


Stockholm Syndrome

by moonmayhem



Category: World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Mob, Alternate universe - Mafia, Blood, Blood and Injury, Childhood Trauma, F/M, Guns, Gunshot Wounds, Kidnapping, Kinda, Physical Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Stalking, Stockholm Syndrome, Trauma, but not really, mafia!au, mob boss aleister black, reader is a bad bitch
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-01
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:01:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 31,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26021584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonmayhem/pseuds/moonmayhem
Summary: Adam Cole, wannabe mob boss, has an unhealthy obsession with the reader/OFC. He kidnaps you in order to make a "united front" sort of impression on the mob Kingpin, Aleister Black.However, Mr. Black takes a liking to you.
Relationships: Aleister Black | Tommy End/Original Female Character(s), Aleister Black | Tommy End/Reader
Kudos: 4





	1. First Meeting

If I had known having any sort of relation to Adam Cole was going to get me into trouble with the fucking mafia, I would’ve never started talking to the son of a bitch.

Now, here I was, in pink polka dot sweatpants and a bralette, held at gunpoint in my kitchen. All I wanted to do was eat cheap ramen and watch some Netflix, and, I don’t know, not worry about whether or not I was about to get shot. I hadn’t even been able to take off my makeup from earlier in the day, this was dreadful.

“I’m gonna need you to come with me, lady!”

I let out the heaviest sigh I could manage. “Did Cole send you?” This has been a common occurrence for two months since I turned him down, every other day someone would be in my apartment, holding me against my will. The gun though? The gun was fucking new. “You sure you’re allowed to point that thing at me?”

“Shut up!” He shoved the barrel of the gun against my chest. “I’m supposed t’ take you back to the boss, he said you’d be an arguer, but I ain’t havin’ it.”

He shoved it harder into my chest and I stumbled back with a grunt. “Fine, chill out with the gun, I’ll come with you. Just turn off my stove, I’m not about to have my apartment burn down because you’re being an asshole.”

“I’m the one givin’ orders here, just–,”

I leveled the man with a glare. “Adam will have no problem dispatching you if I ask him too.” There was a flash of fear in the man’s eyes before his jaw clenched in thought. “Now, turn off my fucking stove.”

He was smart enough to turn off the stove, then, and he even let me pull on a shirt and some tennis shoes. Adam would have had a fit if I had shown up only half-dressed, he probably would’ve shot this dude on the spot. Whatever, all I cared about was returning to my _not_ _burned down_ apartment whenever Adam had his fill of me and I was able to leave.

* * *

“Well, hello there, beautiful!” Adam had swung open the door, arms splayed wide open before gesturing me to step inside. When I hesitated for a second like I normally did when Adam _kidnapped_ _me_ , the guy who had picked me up, shoved me forward and I stumbled over the doorstep, falling into Adam. One of the other men smacked my kidnapper hard on the back of the head in retaliation. My hands gripped onto his shirt and he looked down at me with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “I’m sorry about that, sweetheart, this dumbass is new and doesn’t know he’s not allowed to touch you.”

“Not that it matters, Cole, but I was in the middle of making dinner before I crashed on the couch to watch Netflix.” I patted his chest when I pulled away from him and started walking further into the house that was sadly becoming increasingly familiar to me. “You better have brought me here to eat with you or I’d rather just have one of your guys shoot me.”

Adam chuckled as he followed me into my favorite part of the house: the kitchen. “You’re always so dramatic when it comes to food.”

“Ramen, Cole, my cheap ass was about to eat my favorite food.” There were a handful of people dancing around the kitchen, mixing up concoctions over the stove, and checking on things in the oven. It smelt sinfully good.

“Don’t worry,” He rested his hands on my shoulders, thumbs gently digging into my muscles like this kind of… unsolicited intimacy was a common occurrence, “I’ve got the food already being made, it is only 9 o’clock.”

I rolled my shoulders back and turned to look at him so he was no longer touching me. When I turned, I noticed many more men were unfamiliar to me in his house. Adam always had the same people by his side, but Fish and O’Reilly were nowhere in sight. I had a feeling something else was going on here with all the extra detail present.

“Why did you bring me here, Adam?”

“Wanted to have you for dinner –“

“No,” I shook my head and waved my hand around to indicate all of the new people, “you never have this many people around you, it’s a liability. Bobby and Kyle aren’t here, Adam. What’s going on?”

Adam sighed, hands absently moving to roll up the sleeves of his black dress shirt. “Listen, I brought you here because we’re trying to infiltrate the city’s kingpin, and he’s coming over to pay a visit later, I need you close. Besides, Bobby and Kyle are –“

“Cole, we got what you wanted out of us.”

I spun around on my heels to see the guys in question stride in with what looked like… clothes? They weren’t exactly men’s clothes, instead, they looked like dresses and shoes. That’s when I knew where this was going.

“Adam Cole, I swear to god, if those clothes are so you can dress me up to act the part as your pretty little plaything I’m gonna kick your ass!”

The unfamiliar men in suits stepped towards me as I could follow through with the threat immediately. No, I would take my time kicking his ass and all these bullshit pieces of meat wouldn’t be anywhere around when I was doing it. Maybe Bobby and Kyle would be around, but that’s only because they’d let me while they laughed at Adam.

“Beautiful, listen. I need you at my side to make sure you’re safe, and I can do that by making them believe you’re part of the gang and that all this hired muscle would rather die than see you hurt. Plus, you’d be killer in a velvet dress.”

My upper lip curled in agitation while he smirked.

Bobby leaned forward, dangling the red, pointed toe heels in my face. “You know you want these!”

“We remember you looking at them weeks ago!” Kyle chimed in.

“What the fuck? You guys are following me now!?”

Adam threw a sharp glare at him and he at least looked sheepish in being caught.

I rolled my eyes and snatched the shoes from his hand and tugged the clothes out of Kyle’s fingers. “They better be cute as shit.”

* * *

After dinner, I tried on the dress and it was surprisingly nice. Adam was right, I did  _ kill _ in a velvet dress, a black velvet dress to be specific. God, and the shoes! Man, I know it was creepy for them to be following me while I was out shopping, but hey, if I got to keep these red pointed-toe lace-up heels, I wasn’t complaining.

There was something else at the bottom of the garment bag of the dress I had picked, a bright shade of red liquid lipstick that matched the shoes perfectly, yet another item I had been eyeballing in the last few days at Sephora. Just _how_ _often_ did they follow me?

All the same, I swiped that beautiful shade on my lips, thanked whatever deity out there that I wasn’t allowed the time to take off my makeup, and I tied my hair up into a high ponytail. As much as I hated this stupid plan and Adam’s stupid  _ won’t-take-no-for-an-answer _ guts, I looked  _ damn _ good.

I made my way back into the main room, only to be met with more unfamiliar men making their way into what Adam liked to call the “special meeting room.” Adam was nowhere in sight, more than likely already inside the room since his guest had arrived, and when I made it at the bottom of the stairs I caught steel blue eyes watching me. This man was beautiful and an absolute vision in a suit. Hair shaved close on both sides of his head, but down the middle, it was brown, long, and tied at the base of his neck. His beard was grown out but neatly groomed, but what caught my attention the most was the crescent moon tattoo high on his cheekbone and the piercing in his lip.

I was mesmerized by him. I blinked my eyes slowly and let my lips curl up in a smile towards him before I followed close behind the men that he was walking into the meeting room with.

When I saw Adam across the room sitting on one of the couches, I noticed him twitch when he saw the man that had walked in front of me, but when he caught eyes on me he whistled low as he stood. “What did I tell you, beautiful? This dress looks amazing on you.”

Adam went to tug me into him by my waist and I subtly batted his hand away. Through clenched teeth, I whispered, “Keep your hands to yourself, Cole and I’ll do my part.”

He pouted for a second, mouth setting into a frown before his eyes flickered up to something behind me and he gently pushed me aside to address whatever it was.

“Mr. Black, it’s nice to finally meet you.” Adam’s voice became unnecessarily deep and I turned my head to see the same man I had locked eyes with earlier in the main room and he was just as beautiful – if not more – up close.

“Please,” Mr. Black started, “Call me Aleister. Thank you for inviting me to your home.” Aleister’s eyes slowly scanned the meeting room, taking in every person inside before settling his eyes on me once again. “Everything here is so beautiful.”

Adam called me that all the time, it was my signature nickname he had given me, but when Mr. Black – Aleister – said that word, it sent a shiver up my spine and a blush to my cheeks.

“This is my girlfriend!” Adam said hurriedly, noticing the way Aleister and I held the others gaze. “Beautiful, go ahead and introduce yourself.”

The fact that he was treating me like I was a child pissed me off slightly, but the fact that he took me off the market in front of this man when I was so very much on it, made me even angrier. For a second though, I thought I saw Aleister glace over at Adam with what looked like irritation before his eyes softened and he took my hand. “Very nice to meet you,  _ Klein vogeltje _ .”

My breath caught in my throat when he spoke and my hand loosely shook his, our eyes never leaving one another. “I don’t know what that means, but say it again.”

Adam tensed beside me and Aleister smiled, whether it was because of me or because Adam was uncomfortable, I didn’t know, but the sharp edges of his face softened because of it. I could tell that the simple chore of smiling was not something he often did and I suddenly wanted nothing more than to continue being the reason for it happening.

Kyle reached out to touch my shoulder, silently requesting that I take a seat on the brown leather love seat. What was it with the mafia and their fucking leather? It wasn’t the most comfortable thing to sit one’s ass on. I obliged anyway.

The other men followed suit, Bobby and Kyle stood tall on either side of the couch, and Adam sitting unreasonably close to me trying and failing to possessively rest his hand on my thigh. He settled for draping his arm over my shoulders instead and even then my posture was stiff as I watched Aleister and his men sit down on the larger couch across from us.

One of the men looked familiar like I had seen him in an ad or a movie. He had hair like Aleister’s, shaved close on the sides but enough to have a fade, and the rest of it on top was short enough to be slicked back. If it wasn’t for the way Aleister commanded the rooms complete attention, then I would have assumed this man was the one in charge with his large, gray fur coat and the black umbrella he held in hand. The other man was tall, over 6 feet probably, hair pulled back in a low bun and in… different attire than the others. It was a thin white shirt under a vest and he sported leather pants as well. He looked more menacing than the rest of the men in the room like he knew something the rest of us didn’t. I found myself following the lines of the tattoos he had inked down his left arm, which led me to the spelled out words of “anti-hero” on Aleister’s knuckles.

“You’ve got your boys stepping their toes in water they shouldn’t even be near, Cole.” The atmosphere changed as soon as Aleister’s tone turned serious and cold. “Your name is pretty new in the game, just because you come from wealth, my friend doesn’t mean it’ll get you everywhere in this city.”

I felt Adam’s fingers tense against my arm before he tugged me further into his side, and I shifted my legs uncomfortably, trying to make it easier for me to sit up without having to lean into him so heavily. “I’m just trying to make a name for myself in your city! Where’s the harm in that?”

“Listen to the words you just said. My city, repeat that to yourself every time you think about swimming in the deep end.” Aleister leaned forward, elbows pressed into his knees when he looked up at Adam. His body screamed power and threatening and the simple sense that he did not give a  _ fuck _ what Adam had to say because he wasn’t a threat.  _ That _ was amazing. “I highly doubt you want a territorial dispute on your hands with your poorly trained staff and your severe lack of loyalty ties in this city.”

The larger man with the sleeve spoke first, “I’d listen to him, short stack.” Adam balked at the man. “You don’t have shit established in this city, you might as well be a nobody.”

“And who the hell are you?”

The man smirked, “Name’s Baron Corbin, part of a motorcycle gang that would have no problem busting up you and your two arm monkey’s back there. I’m also a close, personal friend with Aleister here.”

“Just to get things out of the way,” the man with the umbrella spoke up, “I’m Marty Scurll, Aleister’s lawyer and close friend. I have a good influence on the public and a very sizable sway with the police force. I tell them who to look for and where to look at, it’s quite fun actually.”

A small huff of a laugh left Aleister as he listened to his friends talk. The only two, I might add, in the room that accompanied him to this meeting while Adam hired over two dozen men in fear of looking  _ weak _ . The other men saw right through him and were not afraid to stand their ground.

“With all due respect, Aleister, I love a challenge.

It was my turn to balk at Adam, because  _ what the fuck? _ I tried not to show too much of what I was feeling on my face but it seemed to catch the eye of the guy known as Baron Corbin because his hand hit the leather armrest and pointed towards me.

“Even your girl thinks you’re insane, Cole!”

“I’m  _ not _ his girl.”

My eyes pierced into Corbin’s face in neutral hostility, and if I saw correctly he flinched ever so slightly while I held my gaze. Adam didn’t like that remark much, yanking me closer into him with his fingers digging into my shoulder as he seethed in faux softness through clenched teeth,  _ don’t speak. _

Out of my peripheral, I could see a twitch in Aleister’s direction, like he wanted to move or to say something. I was probably imagining things.

* * *

Throughout the remainder of the meeting, which was only 5 or 10 minutes, I stayed quiet. I stayed quiet and thought that if Adam didn’t send me directly home after this bullshit I would have no problem calling the cops and being that piece of shit person in this business for tattle-telling. I’m sure I could pursue Aleister’s friend Marty to help me out with putting Adam away so he could never harass me again.

I was waiting silently in the main room, Adam was saying goodbye to Aleister and the other two and requested that I  _ wait by the door so they can see us as a united front when I hold you _ . Because that worked so well in the meeting room when I blurted out that I wasn’t his girl! Amazing! Delusional! Stupid! I waited there, all the same, I didn’t have anything else to do and the more I cooperate with Adam, the quicker I get to go home and be in my fucking pajamas with Netflix on.

I was too busy daydreaming about the rest of the night at home to notice that Aleister had stepped in front of me by the front door with a small grin on his face.

“Oh, sorry, Mr. Black. I was daydreaming.”

The grin grew wider when he shook his head, “Please, call me Aleister. Were you daydreaming about escaping Cole’s grasp?”

I could tell it was a bit of a joke, but he wasn’t wrong so I just nodded. That seemed to take him by surprise and all I could do was sigh. “He had someone break into my apartment at gunpoint to pick me up, it was all good fun,  _ honestly _ .”

The muscles in his jaw began to work and his eyes darkened when he darted them over to Adam who was trying to get Baron out the door and out of his fully stocked bar. When they grew closer Aleister’s grin appeared once more when he regarded me. “I’ll be seeing you soon, Klein vogeltje. Keep your eyes open.”

Adam tensed and his hand tugged onto mine to pull me back against him. “I think it’s time you leave gentlemen.” He nodded at Bobby who opened the front door like some sort of butler.

Aleister nodded and his friends followed.

Adam pressed a wet, sloppy kiss to my cheek, fingers digging into my bicep like it was normal shit to bruise someone like a peach. “Let’s get you to my room.”

“Hah! Excuse me, sir? I don’t think so! You’re taking me home!” I pushed him off of me and crossed my arms in front of my chest to stand my ground.

“Nope, sorry beautiful, no can do. Those guys are dangerous and they’ll kill anything I care about; didn’t you hear them?”

“They said nothing like that. They were warning you to stay away from their fucking territory because you’re a greedy asshole!”

Adam scoffed, “ _ I’m _ the greedy asshole? They’re the ones that run a good 95% of this city! There’s no room for the little guy!”

“Finally admit you’re little?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know.”

I rolled my eyes at him, “Adam, come on, please just take me home?”

For a second he did look apologetic like he wanted to take me home, but it was against his better judgment in doing so but it was dashed away immediately. “No, you’re staying here until I think it’s safe for you to leave. Could take days, even weeks. I’ll give you the spare bedroom upstairs!”

“I hate you.”

* * *

Thankfully I had arrived in my pajamas because nothing felt better than my sweatpants and my bralette, my makeup is off and my hair finally down from the ponytail it was in. Once I stepped out of the bathroom I decided that the faster I go to sleep, the faster morning with come and I can go home to my apartment and not see Adam for another… probably three days. My mind kept going back to Aleister and the way he would tense whenever Adam treated me any less than satisfactory. I found myself wondering how he’d treat me if their roles were reversed. Maybe I wouldn’t mind someone from an organized crime syndicate stalking me if it was someone like him.

There was a tapping sound at the window and before I could scream I slapped my hand over my mouth and turned around to find Aleister standing on the fucking roof. I quickly ran over to the window to open it up before speaking to the mob boss in a harsh whisper.

“Are you crazy!? What if Adam sees you out here?”

Aleister chucked and stepped in through the window. “He won’t. I had help from one of the girls on my team in disabling the security system he had on the house, and then I simply climbed the roof. It’s much easier than he thinks to break in here.” I giggled and then promptly wondered where the hell the giggle came from because I was certainly  _ not _ a giggler. I was curious though, why the hell had Aleister stuck around to even attempt to do some kind of parkour on the roof of a rival gang’s house? “May I ask you something?”

I nodded and Aleister carefully stepped into my space, less than an arm’s length away and I tried my best to stand still even while my heart began to beat heavily. His suit jacket was gone, and his sleeves were folded up to his elbows to showcase more brilliant tattoos that I didn’t know were hidden under the sleeves.

“What’s the story behind your relationship with Adam Cole?” He reached out to twirl his fingers around my newly brushed out hair, and his fingertips brushed against the base of my neck with what I thought was the purpose to touch my skin. “How did you get wrapped up in his mischief?”

“Well, I saw him at a bar and thought he was cute. We started talking, but when I found out that he was shady and, well, a criminal I cut ties.” I noticed that Aleister was no longer looking at me, instead, he was watching how his fingers traced my collarbone and the lace of my bralette just over my breasts. I don’t know why I was even letting him touch me, but I was too curious to see where this would lead to stop him. “He didn’t like that very much and has been harassing me ever since. It’s been two months.”

Aleister hummed, eyes flickering up once to look at me before he traced a line slowly down my arm. “You don’t seem fazed, even in the presence of us  _ criminals _ .”

My breathing was a bit ragged from his soft touches over my breasts and I was no longer looking at him either, I was following his hands. “I, um, other than Adam always bothering me, I’ve never really been in the middle of any kind of mafia dispute.” One hand gently wrapped around my wrist while the other softly brushed my hair off my right shoulder as I spoke. “Tonight was the first night I was present for a meeting like this, one of his guys actually used a gun to bring me to the house and I wasn’t even scared then.” Suddenly, Aleister’s mouth was right next to my ear. “Maybe there’s something wrong with me,” I whispered.

I could him press his lips just below my ear before his other hand came up to hold the side of my neck, and then Aleister was looking into my eyes. I don’t know how he did it but I was quickly wrapped up in his space. I had been aware of his movements, but they were like a trance, and here I was, a mafia Kingpin’s face inches away from mine, and he was so damn stunning that I wanted to take him on the bed in Adam Cole’s fucking house.

“You can come with me,” he murmured, “if you wanted. I’m almost certain I could protect you better than he could.”

My eyes looked back and forth between his own and I mumbled, “What do I need protecting from?”

“All of us.”

“Are you trying to kidnap me, Mr. Black?”

He chuckled and leaned in just enough that our lips brushed against each other. “Only if you’ll let me.”

For a second, I hesitated. My heart was ready to beat out of my chest with the proximity and I was ready to leave this place with Aleister, and throw myself into another gang’s arms if it meant I could get Adam to leave me alone.

“If you kiss me I’ll let you.”

Aleister didn’t waver, using the hand he had on my neck to close the very minuscule distance between us, he harshly pressed a searing kiss to my lips and I swear to god I melted. The hand that was holding my wrist tugged gently, pulling my body flush against his before he pulled away.

“Good?” he smirked like there was any reason to ask with the dazed expression I was sporting.

“So good.”

“Come now, let’s save Rapunzel from the ugly witch before the security system comes back online.”

Aleister pulled me towards the window once I tugged on my shoes and I half wondered how the hell I was going to get off the roof. It was too high for me to do any flashy parkour shit, and the only exercise I did was half-assed running on a treadmill.

“Aleister, I–,”

I didn’t need to say another thing, when Aleister and I got onto the first-floor roof he leaned down, grabbed me by my thighs, and lifted until I wrapped my legs around his waist.

“You just hold onto me, liefje.”

He didn’t have to tell me twice. I wrapped my arms around his neck and held my legs tight as he latched onto what I assumed to be a rope of some kind and began to lower us off the roof. Once his feet touch the ground I released my death grip on him and he quickly pulled me further passed the house, behind a building where a stereotypically large black SUV was waiting for us.

Marty and Baron were leaning against it, large smiles on their faces when they caught sight of the two of us.

“Damn, that went faster than I expected it to! You were just itchin’ to get away from Cole, weren’t you sweetheart?” Baron went to clap me on the shoulder but Aleister quickly shot out his hand to stop him. He held his hands up in surrender, “Sorry boss man.”

“I wasn’t playing around when I said I wasn’t his girl.”

Marty looked at me for a second, then gave his attention to Aleister. “You sure about this?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“She’s gonna be a liability. I don’t want you getting too involved because she’s got a nice face.” Marty said matter of factly.

First of all,  _ excuse me? _ Second of all, at least he thinks I have a nice face.

“I’ve got this handled, old friend. No one’s getting involved. Now, let’s get going before Cole pulls his head out of his ass and realizes she’s gone.”

When we all piled into the car, I half expected Aleister to sit up front with whoever was driving, but instead, he sat in the back with me and Baron, his hand resting easily on the inside of my knee.

I caught eyes with Baron who shook his head and mumbled under his breath, “Not getting involved, my ass.”


	2. “She’s not yours to corrupt … that’s my job.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aleister has Baron and Marty guarding -- more like babysitting -- Little Bird in her own home. Sneaking out for groceries wouldn't be too bad... right? Childhood trauma won't rear its ugly head, right!?

Marty and Baron have been guarding me for three weeks. Adam has tried to send a few of his goons over every other day, waiting to see if the boys would let up any time soon, but they didn’t.  _ “Bosses orders,”  _ Baron had grumbled one night, laid on my couch while he stuffed his face with my cool ranch Doritos.  _ “Can’t let you out of our sight.” _

A captive in my own home, but at least I had my ramen.

“Hey, I bought a 12 pack of beer because you didn’t have any in your fridge, and I have a  _ mighty _ need.” Baron dropped the pack on top of the counter and proceeded to tear open the cardboard to grab a can. Marty came up behind him, rolling his eyes and placing a few plastic grocery bags next to the beer.

“Since we’ve been eating all of your food, Baron and I decided to do a spot of shopping.”

“Aleister made us do it,” Baron grumbled, taking a swig out of the can. “Hate shopping.”

Although I appreciated the gesture – because they  _ were _ eating my entire fucking food supply – I would have liked to do my shopping. There were things I wanted to make, ideas I’ve had running around in my brain. Don’t get me wrong, I loved ramen, been living off that shit since college, but trying out new recipes was sorta my thing. Especially when it came to desserts.

“Not that it isn’t sweet of you guys to think about your overconsumption of my food, but I would’ve liked to tag along.”

Marty elbowed Baron in the ribs, “See! I knew she would have wanted to come along!”

Baron shrugged, “Not my fault! I was just tryin’ to execute Aleister’s orders quickly, man.”

With a sigh, I stepped around the counter to look through the bags that Marty had brought in. Snacks. Cookies.  _ Potato skins?  _ “You guys, what the fuck?”

“Something wrong?”

“Yes!” I pulled out the items and laid them out on the counter. “These are just snacks and there’s barely anything worth eating.”

Baron grunted, “just like your ramen.”

Marty had learned in the last few weeks that it was a smart idea to just back away, and out of the kitchen to disappear into the other room before Baron and I exchanged bullets.

“All of your beer will be poured down the drain if you spew such blasphemy again.” Prolonged eye contact was my choice of weapon, and Baron was losing under the uncomfortableness of it.

“What if I eat all your ramen?”

“I’ll sic my cat on you.” My elusive black cat, Josef, that blended into the shadows underneath the couches hated Baron’s guts and would often come out to swipe at him whenever he got the chance. 

I watched as Baron’s eyes flickered throughout the kitchen, almost as if Josef heard my threat and he was prepared for an attack. It took a minute, but Baron finally sighed, “Fine.”

I watched him retreat into the living room to turn on the television (surprisingly with Josef close behind) while I put up the crap the bought at the store.

“Come on,” Marty called into the kitchen, “watch television with us. I’ll buy us takeaway.”

* * *

Maybe sneaking out of the house to grab  _ proper _ groceries at 8 p.m. wasn’t the best of ideas, but they’d get over it when I made the two of them dinner and dessert.

A hand on my shoulder startled me out of my thoughts and I dropped the mixes that were in my arms. “ _ Jesus! _ ” When I spun around to see who had touched me, I blanched noticeably. “What are you doing here?”

“I should ask you the same.” Eric Young stood there smirking, the rasp in his voice noticeable as he chuckled. “You supposed t’ be out of Cole’s gilded cage?”

“First of all, that’s none of your business.”

There was a cold chill that ran down my spine with the way he was sizing me up. Eric hated Adam — as most people do — and would do anything to have the upper hand on him, just to fuck him over. Eric was probably looking at me as the perfect opportunity to do so.

“And second?” His smirk didn’t falter, instead, he cocked his head to the side and a wild look held ablaze in his eyes.

“Cole doesn’t own me, Young. Now, if you’re done trying to accost me in the middle of a grocery store, I’ll be on my way.” I decided to abandon my cart filled with items and tried to shoulder past the man, but when I turned around to leave the isle I ran into a massive body. Killian, all 300 pounds of him, staring down at me and blocking my escape route. When I looked back at Eric, Nikki and Alexander were flanking him, and I knew I was fucking trapped. “Goddammit, you cant just surround me with your fucking  _ Sanity _ posse, Young.”

Nikki looked like she was having too much fun. Ready to take her orders and more than likely toss me over her shoulder and shoulder her way out of the store without batting a fucking eyelash. And their hair! Their hair was wet, why was it always  _ wet _ ?!

She must’ve wiggled her way into my head, because Nikki laughed audibly and took a step forward, a wicked grin thinning her lips.

“Nikki,” Young mumbled, “round her up.”

I flinched when Nikki pushed passed the men and reached out to grab me, but before she could touch me someone’s hand snapped out in front of me, and grabbed her wrist.

“She’s not yours to corrupt.” He yanked Nikki in close to his chest and the faintest of smiles was present in his face. “That’s my job.”

Nikki wrenched herself out of his grip, snarling as she quickly stepped back towards Eric and Alexander. I hadn’t realized the way my breathing had become shallow, but once Aleister’s hand was present at the small of my back, I settled and my breathing began to even out.

“I have a question for you, Eric Young,” I cautiously watched Aleister out of my peripheral, watching the way his jaw muscles worked, and his tongue passed quickly over his lips. “Do you know whose territory you’re in?”

Eric’s upper lip twitched as he grumbled out an answer. “Yours, Black.”

“Correct. Now, explain to me, if you’re well aware of where you are, why were you about to put your hands on someone who’s under my protection?” His fingers absently wiggled their way under my shirt and came in contact with the bare skin of my stomach. I did my damnedest not to react, and so far, I was accomplishing it. Even though a part of me wondered if Aleister realized that the tiniest bit of skin-on-skin contact eased my nerves even further.

“Eric, you said she was Cole’s.” Killian rumbled on the other side of me, catching everyone’s attention.

“What is  _ with _ everyone assuming I’m Cole’s  _ anything _ ?!” I could find my voice for something.

Eric grunted and shifted his eyes back to Aleister. “We didn’t receive word she was yours.”

Fucking hell, the fact that these individuals wouldn’t lay a hand on me only if I was  _ owned _ by a man was damned repulsive. “I’m not-“

Aleister pressed his lips to the corner of my mouth, effectively stopping my protest in its tracks. “Hush,” he whispered against my skin, and my eyes drooped nearly shut when he pulled away to address the others again. “Spread the news, let the others know that if they touch her, they will all fade to black. Understood?”

The Sanity faction nodded and with a tip of Aleister’s head and curt hand motion from Young, they retreated and hopefully left the store.

“Holy shit,” I breathed and leaned some of my weight into Aleister. “Thank god you showed up when you did.”

Aleister hummed at my words and placed his other hand under my chin so that I would look up at him. “You weren’t supposed to leave your house, liefje.”

“I know… but, hey, what’s with that ‘fade to black’ stuff? Isn’t that a Metallica song?”

* * *

Aleister had gotten out of his vehicle and was quiet as he helped me grab the groceries from my car. I was worried he was mad at me for leaving without Baron and Marty in tow, but I didn’t know how to ask. I hadn’t seen him since he had to ‘ _ tend to business _ ’ a week ago, and I didn’t exactly know where we — or whatever this was — stood. Although we shared touches, maybe a kiss or two every so often if the boys weren’t around to peer, that was it. He wasn’t  _ getting involved _ .

“How did you leave without the boys seeing you?” Aleister asked right as Marty opened the door, chest heaving and looking as guilty as someone could.

Aleister had his lips in a thin line and his facial features tense as he looked between his panting companion and me.

“Looks like you don’t have to buy us food, Marty!” I chuckled nervously at him before answering Aleister’s question. “Korean dramas.”

Baron came around the corner, his concealed piece situated in his holster like he was ready to have a gunfight in the middle of my apartment.

“ _ What? _ ” Aleister looked incredulous. Like the mere thought of something so trivial distracting his companions from their objective was insanity. He looked back at both men who now only seemed exasperated and completely embarrassed. “You two-“

“We’re sorry, boss…” Baron’s body relaxed and reached out with Marty to grab the bags of groceries from our hands. “Did something happen?”

We followed them back inside and I listened quietly while putting away the items as Aleister explained our encounter with Sanity.

“Why would they corner you in the first place?” I looked over my shoulder briefly at Marty. I forgot that this type of encounter, this  _ infringement _ on their territory was new to them. “You never properly explained your involvement with Cole in the first place.”

“I’ve told Aleister the story already,” I began with a sigh, “I found out Adam was a criminal, so when I turned him down he began harassing me. Sending out his best two to bring me in, and later on, when they became friends of mine he sent others.” I closed the cabinets above me and turned around the face the three men. They looked perturbed by Adam’s actions, despite the vagueness I was providing. “Apparently, Fish And O’Reilly were following me for months, and the night you all came over Cole decided to have a gun thrown into the mix.”

There were different reactions from the men in front of me. Aleister, having heard the story briefly once before, had his fingers flexed into fists, Marty’s neck tensed, and Baron’s upper lip curled slightly. Honestly, I was surprised to see even the slightest of reactions from them. No one — other than the twisted way Adam cared — gave a shit about what happened to me. Not even myself. Baron, especially, looked perturbed at the way I had just shrugged my shoulders.

“Why the hell aren’t you more upset about this shit?!” Marty was always the more exasperated of the two, never afraid to show how he was truly feeling in the moment.

A smile that I had grown accustomed to forming —  _ faking _ — spread thin and tight. “Nothing I’m not used to. It isn’t that big of a deal.”

Aleister cleared his throat, a man of a few words (or noises), making sure Baron and Marty were going to put the rest of the groceries away while he walked away and disappeared into a room that I had converted into an office when I moved in..

“Did he say how he found you?”

I shook my head and moved on. “I’m going to make you guys dinner and dessert, that sound good?” It was the only way I knew how to pass through the awkward air of conversation.  _ Food _ . I stress baked when I couldn’t sort out my emotions and, well, there were a  _ lot _ of those today.

Marty perked up a bit, thankfully. “Need me to help?”

“I’ve got it all under control. I wanted to thank you guys for keeping me company for weeks now, and this is how I’ll do it.”

“‘s like you know the way to our hearts!”

A soft chuckle came out of me as I shrugged, “you’ve been living under my roof for the last three weeks, I hope I would know a bit.”

* * *

Aleister had emerged from the other room a few minutes after I called for dinner, sitting down at my small wooden dining table with mismatched chairs. Some time at the beginning of their stay here, Baron had made a smart ass comment about them,  _ Looks like the fuckin’ island of misfit toys.  _ If I didn’t hate him so much I would’ve laughed.

If it hadn’t been for Marty and Baron bickering back and forth, occasionally digging in on Aleister and how he’d been graciously  _ inhaling _ the meal, there wouldn’t have been any table talk. I was so caught up in my thoughts from earlier that I’d seemed to have lost my voice.

Every so often, they would try to engage me, tell me how good the food was, make a joke about how it was a good change from my normal ramen regimen and I would try a smile. Even for a minute. But I hadn’t been this tangled up in my spiderweb of bullshit since I had been a teenager, and it felt like the walls were closing in around me.

When the plates were clean, Aleister set his utensils down and stood. “Boys, clear the table. We’ll be right back.”

I looked up, only standing when he hovered over me, waiting. Then, he grabbed me by the hand and pulled me across the apartment into my room, and once again just waited.

I remained silent. Unsure of why he had secluded me from the others, but I guess it had been beyond obvious that my mood had shifted. Memories of the past always did that and getting involved with the god damned mafia never ceased to bring up prior treatments from my childhood.

“I need to know how to protect you.” I was caught off guard by his words, not entirely understanding what he meant, but he could see that from my expression. “If you’re comfortable, I need to know a bit about what you’re thinking, and whatever you have gone through. I want to be able to keep you out of situations that may trigger you..”

No one had ever asked or even  _ cared _ for that matter. I had always done my best to go through this bullshit existence with the illusion that there was no baggage of mine to be carried. But here I was, being asked by someone willing to protect me, someone who had power leaking out of his pours and an aura that emanated throughout the city. He was willing to listen — to  _ care _ .

“I can’t do physical violence.” It was a start I could make, sorting through the memories of what once was. “I can deal with someone coming at me with metal weaponry, but not their fists.” I briefly thought back to how Sanity cornered me in the aisle and how my breathing became shallow. “If there are people larger than me closing in, I clam up. I can’t move.”

_ I could hear him yelling at me, and I could feel him shaking me, but I couldn’t see him. There was too much blood oozing out from the cut on my forehead for my vision to be worth anything. The beer bottle that he had thrown at me crunched under the bare soles of my feet, and I let the pain bury itself into my skin with a face unyielding. _

_ My mom used to tell me:  _ **_Just keep quiet, don’t cry_ ** _ , and I followed that for years. She took as many beatings for me as she could. Smacks, kicks, and punches. Yanking of hair and the twisting of arms. Whatever my father could latch onto that he knew could cause us pain. _

Aleister’s hands hovered gently over my shoulders for a second before settling and drifting their way up to cup the sides of my neck. I could feel how my eyes had glazed over and widened with the recollection of something that haunted the crevices of my brain. I was vaguely aware of my lips moving, retelling stories of my father beating my mother and I bloody, trying to hide the bruises, and pretending that the time I showed up to school with my entire right arm in a cast was because I fell from a jungle gym, and not because my father had put all he had into kicking me.

I still wouldn’t cry, no matter how deep into the blanketed memories of my past I went. I hadn’t even noticed that Aleister had sat us on the edge of my bed and entwined our fingers together as I spoke, giving me just enough physical contact to keep me grounded. I didn’t know when Baron or Marty had stepped into the room, quietly listening to my tales and the inevitable blow to the head that took my mother from me at 16. A metal chair, wielded by my drunk father because nothing else would get her to _ stop crying, never not crying _ . That was the first time I had screamed and cried for the first time in nearly a decade while I watched the blood seep through the waves of her hair onto the carpet. I was surprised he hadn’t taken the chair to me right after, even while the police stormed our house.

“But I’m fine,” I finished because that’s what I always said when a story from my past slipped passed their walls. “I’ve had  _ years _ to be fine.”

“Hey,” Baron spoke quietly, and I wanted to slap him for the cautionary tone his voice held. “Although you’re  _ fine _ , and I’m sure you could destroy anyone that crossed you, I want you to know that Marty and I will be your back up whenever you need it.”

This time, a genuine smile made its way onto my lips, spilling into the crevices of my eyes when I looked at the two men leaning against the wall. “What happened to not getting involved?”

Baron smirked at my choice of words and shook his head before capturing Marty in a headlock and ushering him out of the room, kicking and hollering. “Hurry up and get your asses back out here for this killer dessert that our little princess made!”

_ Princess _ was new, I could get used to it.

“I knew it would be nearly impossible not to get involved from the moment we kissed.” When I turned to look at Aleister his eyes looked warmer than I had ever seen them. He brought my hand up to his lips and kissed over my knuckles. “I think you’ve put your cage around me, Klein vogeltje.”

* * *

Miles somewhere else, Eric was pacing in the junkyard, accompanied by the rest of his Sanity crew all perched on dilapidated car hoods and large flattened tires.

“He ain’t comin’, Young. Let’s just go I’m hungry, man!”

“No! He’s the only one that will help us take down Cole and overpower Black. If we can’t do it with the girl, we’ll -“

“You need the girl.”

An accented voice came through the mist-covered darkness, swaggering in slowly with his tan trench coat softly waving in the night’s breeze.

Everyone’s back straightened out, taunt on their perches and watching as he emerged through the darkness like some kind of devil. “Pete Dunne, you’re late!”

Pete sneered, his vexed expression permanently written into the planes of his face. “Shut your mouth, Young. I’m the one with the fuckin’ smarts in this operation.”

Eric didn’t seem to like that, cracking his neck from side to side in irritation. “You sayin’ we need the girl? Why?

“Aleister Black finds her interesting enough to keep around, and Adam Cole wants everything he can’t have.” Pete flicked his hair back out of his face and dusted imaginary lint off of his shoulders. “Take her and you have both men at your bidding.” A nasty grin lifted at the corners of his lips before he continued. “I’ve got just enough raw power to help you.”


	3. "Call me Pete"

Aleister and I had decided that keeping me at his place was probably my best bet. He could keep an eye on me easier, keep me close in case Sanity or Adam came around to try and collect me again. I was sure that Sanity wouldn’t come after me though, especially with the display that Aleister showed in the grocery store a couple of weeks back, but that was probably my naivety thinking.

_ “Princess, they’ll come for you even harder now.” Baron had been tinkering with his bike in Aleister’s garage. “Especially if you go out of the protective perimeter like you did last time.” _

_ I grumbled while handing him the proper tools to work with. “I’m not saying I mind living with Aleister, but what about my place - Is it just gonna be uninhabited? What about my job, am I not supposed to go? Honestly though, how am I even a large factor in this territory bullshit?” _

_ Baron let the tools in his hand clatter on to the table next to him before he looked at me. “Adam Cole is obsessed with you and he hates Aleister and especially wants to take over his territory. The boss wants to protect you and seems to be personally invested in your well being. Sanity’s crew hates Cole, they just want some recognition and they’re gonna try and do that through you.” He grabbed a grease-stained towel and scrubbed his hands with it before he nudged me with his elbow. “You’re involved, kid. Get used to it.” _

_ “I’m safer here then.” _

_ Baron nodded, “Much safer, and I’m sure that Aleister will work things out with your place of employment and may even just buy out the entire place you live in.” _

_ Baron acted real nonchalant about what he just said, and I fucking forgot how easily money came to Black and his friends. Not without the hard (criminal) work, they all put into running an organization. Mafia… gangs… whatever dabbled in a shit ton of things. In exchange for protection, the organizations paid heaps of good money for some of the most influential people in the city to deal with outside (and sometimes inside) threats. _

_ “I guess I better get comfy.” _

It had been a few long weeks since I moved into Aleister’s house and I’d yet to be given a full walkthrough of the place. Baron and Marty’s rooms were the only places that I was vaguely familiar with, and that was only because I’d watched them branch off into their parts of the house whenever they came over and decided to stay the night. Aleister’s room was still one I hadn’t ventured to, I’m sure that would be incredibly bold of me to just waltz into some mafia-slash-gang leaders room without explicit permission. The place I was solidly familiar with was the gym, and that was only because I found myself in there when I needed to blow off steam, and it was the only part of the house that Baron said pretty much everyone had free reign in.

Free reign… except when Aleister was using it. Marty said that the last time he had gone in there while Aleister was working out he’d almost lost his whole head.

_ “How about we start getting you acclimated to the lifestyle?” Baron had interrupted my workout to thrust a pair of boxing gloves in my face. _

_ “The hell? You want me to take up  _ **_boxing_ ** _?” There was a ring in the gym, sure, and it wasn’t a far-out thought that the guys were savvy in pugilism, but  _ **_me_ ** _?! “Why would you want to teach me boxing?” _

_ Baron didn’t show my questions much attention. He simply got into the ring and slipped on the boxing pads. “You want to be able to protect yourself, right?” _

_ I nodded. Of course, I did, but I wasn’t expecting any sort of legitimate training either. Cautiously, I slipped myself into the ring with the gloves still in my hand. “Put the gloves down, for now, I wanna see how you throw a punch first.” _

_ “Baron, I fucking suck at throwing punches.” _

_ “You’re gonna learn! Let’s see the punches, let’s go!” _

_ The punches were shit. They were weak and angled wrong, and Baron fucking pulled no punches (pun intended) letting me know it either. _

_ “No, bring your fists up to your face —protect it — then turn your fist over as you strike. None of this sideway cocked fist shit you’re doing.” Baron pulled off the pads for a minute to demonstrate. “Unless you wanna get your wrist snapped in the process, actually follow through with your punches.” _

_ We were in that damned ring for nearly three hours. I didn’t want to leave until I had it down. Until my wrists and hands hurt until my knuckles were slightly bloody and the sweat was pooling in between my breasts. _

_ “Holy fuck, Corbin!” I was collapsed back on the ring, chest heaving with my hands still secured in the gloves. “How often are we going to be doing this, because I’m gonna need to mentally prepare.” _

_ Baron chuckled, hanging on the ropes behind me. “Until I can barely see your hands when you throw punches. Gotta get that speed up, kid.” _

_ “Says the golden gloves regional champ, making it seem like it’s easy,” I huffed. _

_ “Aye,” Baron threw one of the pads at me before he sat down by my head. “I’m trying to toughin’ you up. You went through a lot as a kid and I’ll be damned if I didn’t show you a few moves to keep you safe.” _

_ Baron’s voice was softer when he brought up my safety and past. For a while there I had forgotten what had happened to me, too caught up in the endorphins or a good workout to register that I had been  _ **_fist fighting_ ** _. Controlled environment or not. _

_ “Thank you, Baron.” _

_ “No problem. You may be a princess, but you’re no damsel in distress. Also, I’m a two-time regional champ.” _

I found myself exploring the house now, passing the staircase before I happened upon an office that was utilized by Aleister. That is if the vinyl records that were lined on the shelves next to the books meant anything. He loved music just as much as he did reading, so it made sense that they would be stacked in rows next to one another. I started pulling out certain books that caught my eye,  _ Cigar City Mafia, The Occult: A History, Dutch III: International Gangster _ , but one stood out to me called  _ Magick _ by Aleister Crowley.

I always knew that he had some kind of interest in the occult, but this particular book seemed oddly out of place with the others. When I pulled it, it only moved slightly from the bookcase before stopping, and a click sounded from somewhere in the room.

“What the hell…” the book slid back into line with the other books mechanically, and then the case itself began opening into a  _ secret room  _ that presented Aleister, Marty, and someone unfamiliar that were now  _ staring _ at me. “Shit… I am so sorry, I had no idea-“

“It’s no problem, liefje.” Aleister stepped forward towards me and held out his hand. “Now that you’ve found yourself into our meeting, why don’t you join us?”

I took his hand reluctantly because,  _ god _ , they were in a secret room! Whatever the hell they’d been talking about I wasn’t  _ exactly _ supposed to be privy to. “Aleister, I can leave! I didn’t mean to-,”

“No need, you’re not disturbing us love.” the stranger said with a smirk on his lips as he leaned back in a nice tafton tufted club chair across from the couch Aleister had sat me down on. “Mate, you didn’t mention that you’d rescued a damsel in distress.”

The cliché term made me cock my eyebrow, my worried expression was suddenly null and void at hearing his undermining of my situation. “Damsel in distress? What sort of distress are you presuming I’m in, mister…?”

The man snickered, sitting up to lean forward with his hand out. “Dunne, love. But please, call me Pete.” When I shook his hand, he held on for a second too long and his eyes lingered the same way. It was like he was evaluating me or something, gave me the damn chills. “Are you not in distress then? I’ve nev’a seen Black keep women around for fun. Perhaps he’s taken up a man’s job in your life?”

The implication dug under my fucking skin. Regardless of whatever Aleister was to me, this Pete character and his goddamn smirk-like sneer were pissing me the fuck off. “Well, Mr. Dunne, I’m not in distress. There’s a problem that needs solving and Mr. Black is helping me with it. This is the only time I’ve ever requested help from a  _ man _ , thank you.”

Dunne’s upper lip quirked up in a sort of happy curl of his lip as he leaned back into the chair. “You’ve got a feisty one on your hands there, Aleister.”

“That I do.” Aleister cleared his throat after closing the doorway once again, isolating the four of us.

Marty unceremoniously plopped himself down next to me and laid his arm over the back of the couch. He smiled cheekily at me while he listened to both men continue their conversation.

“Dunne, what’s the news on Adam Cole’s progress in the city?”

Pete’s exterior expression was immediately schooled when Aleister came back around to face him. He stayed standing, one hand in the pocket of his dress pants while the other hung out. I’d be lying if I said he didn’t look good dressed up in slacks and a nice button-down that had a few of the top buttons undone.

“He’s gotten his hands dirty dealing with some businesses and contacts.” Pete flicked through his phone and handed it out to Aleister. “My contact said that he’s spoken to Nakamura, and maybe even Reigns. Nakamura is possibly goin’ to strike up a deal with him, they apparently go way back.”

“If he gets Reigns on his side, Rollins and Ambrose are sure to follow. They’ve always been brothers in arms, even when there was that dispute with Ambrose’s and Reigns’ gangs against Rollins’.” Marty chimed in shaking his head.

Oddly, I’d met Roman Reigns before. He had spoken to Adam months ago though, and Roman and I had weirdly concocted a friendship whenever Adam summoned —  _ kidnapped _ — me for his own weird benefit. Roman had said he’d discuss a truce with Seth and Dean, but nothing was ever finalized, at least, from what I heard Adam  _ constantly _ bitching about.

I wasn’t going to bring this up to Aleister just yet, I wasn’t sure about this Pete Dunne character even if Aleister seemed comfortable with him.

“You’re thinking he’ll succeed in getting allies?” Aleister looked slightly troubled by the notion. “He’s done nothing but petty crimes, he’s gained no legitimate success in our world!”

Pete shrugged, looking at his watch. “I suggest you take some kind of action. Possibly start a territory war before he gains allies. That is,” he stood up and smoothed out his suit jacket, “if  _ you _ have the allies to start one.”

Aleister’s eye twitches at that, knowing that with his power over a good majority of the city, there were still a lot of people looking to take over his spot if he were to ever show weakness. He had the manpower, sure, but a turf war could disturb the truces he had in place.

“Anyways, Black, I’m sure I’ll see you late’a. In the meantime, I suggest you keep an eye on the lady.” His eyes shifted over to me and I felt Marty’s arm drop to secure itself over my shoulders. “Wouldn’t want her endin’ up caught in the middle of all this gang-related mess.”

“Of course not.” I saw Aleister’s jaw muscles flex and his shoulders square as he led Dunne out of the secret room and I assumed towards the front door.

“I don’t like him,” I mumbled. “He gives me the creeps.”

Marty hummed, “Peter’s always given off that sort of feeling.” He gazed at the open chamber from the bookcase and murmured something. “Aleister didn’t want him seeing you.”

Out of utter curiosity, I leaned a tad bit closer to Marty. “What? What do you mean?”

“Aleister doesn’t completely trust Dunne. I think he was right to bring him into this room, but who knew you’d be such a curious cat?”

I groaned and pitched forward to lay over my legs. “ _ Great _ , he seemed to be too interested in my presence for it to be normal, right? I should have just stayed in my room!”

Aleister came back then a deep look of concentration on his face before he sat down slowly in the chair that Pete had been occupying.

Marty waited for a beat before breaking the silence. “Penny for your thoughts, boss?”

“Not that the loyalty ties are severed, but I haven’t had contact with The Shield trio in years. I honestly don’t know how they would feel backing me up if things with Adam go towards an actual territory dispute.”

“Well, I don’t know how much help it would be, but I’ve had contact with Roman recently.”

That snapped both Marty and Aleister to attention. Marty’s arm slipped off my shoulders as he sat up to face me more on the couch.

“How have you had contact with him?” Aleister‘s voice seemed more laced with concern than anything else. It may have made my heart flutter, but that was beside the point.

“Adam,” I started, “he forced me to come over a lot of the time, and whenever Roman had shown up I was absently floating around the house, trying to keep myself occupied.”

Aleister nodded, looking like he was assessing the situation in his mind, “How did you become friendly with Reigns?”

“When Adam noticed Roman was friendly towards me, he made the meetings less formal and figured I could tug at the familial side of his heart.”

“So Dunne was telling the truth?” Marty asked, “through you, Cole was able to secure loyalty ties?”

“He mostly only came over because he wanted to make sure I was okay, dangling the idea of loyalty to Adam to do so.” I shook my head, thinking back on the last time I’d been able to talk with Roman one on one. “Roman seemed to be able to understand my position. He detested Cole for basically keeping me captive. We became friends, sort of, and he would tell me about his wife and kids, as well as Dean and Seth.”

“Damn,” Aleister said with a chuckle. “To think you would actually come in handy for our business.”

I scoffed, “This damsel is useful for a lot of shit, Black.” Aleister smiles wide and gave a wink. With a sigh, I stood up to leave them to their thoughts. “Feel free to pass along my name in conversation to help your cause!”

“Of course, love.”

“A little firecracker,” Marty laughed.

–

Later that night, I was already tucked up in bed with the tv on when a knock sounded on my door.

“It’s me, can I come in?”

_ Aleister? _ It was nearly 11 pm and around this time, if he wasn’t holed up in his office or out on business, he was asleep.

“Uh, yeah!” Slowly, the door opened to reveal a tired-looking man in sweatpants with… fuck, with no shirt on. I bit my lip to keep from making noise while he stepped into the room. “Everything alright?”

He nodded, “I made coffee in the kitchen if you want any.”

For a second I just blinked at him. He looked nervous almost and I couldn’t wrap my head around why? He was shirtless in my room and offering me freshly brewed coffee in the late evening. Ultimately, it was a free invitation to free coffee and I was  _ there _ .

“Yeah, sure.” I silently thanked past me for deciding to put on sweatpants before bed instead of just sleeping in my underwear.

He poured me a cup once we got in the kitchen, the house was so quiet with it only being the two of us in it tonight. Marty and Baron only ever stayed if they didn’t have pressing business to attend to, but Baron was part of another game that had very close ties to Aleister, so he had his own things to attend to. Aleister stood on the other side of the island from me, staring at his cup.

“I was thinking about what you said, about Roman.” I hummed in acknowledgment as I sipped at the coffee. “I ended up calling him and he said he’d meet with me, but only if you were there so he could make sure you’re okay.”

“Oh,” it’s not what I was expecting. “But, I am okay.” Aleister nodded, not meeting my eyes as he slowly spun his coffee mug in his hands. I kept my words soft, hoping that I wouldn’t sound accusatory. “Why do you seem so nervous?”

“You know I’m keeping you here for your own good, right?” I nodded. It’s not like I would exactly have a choice regardless. Aleister was too worried about my well being and staying away from Adam, that he would never truly leave me alone. “I…I just hope you don’t feel like you’re a captive here. I don’t want you to feel like you did when Adam forced you to be around him.”

I moved around the island to be next to him. Someone so strong, someone who usually oozed commanding power when he entered a room was nervous for my sake. Worried that he wasn’t treating me the way I should be.

I placed one hand on his forearm and the other on his shoulder to ground him and get his attention. “Listen, you’re not  _ forcing _ me to do anything. We both agreed that when I moved some of my stuff here that it would be safer. Adam is ruffling too many feathers for me to be in a place by myself.” Aleister finally turned to gaze at me, his eyes heavy as they looked back and forth at my own. The tension seemed to be easing out of his body. “I’m comfortable here,” I whispered, “with you.”

Aleister inhaled deeply through his nose, wrapped me up in his arms, and kissed my forehead. “Good - that’s good.”

Not only couldn’t I help the way my heartbeat heavily, but I couldn’t help the way I slid my own hands up his back and press a soft kiss to his chest. An intimacy I probably shouldn’t have let myself feel, but goddamn did he feel good.

–

When Roman came around he didn’t come alone. He had a few friends in tow that I’d never met before, but could only assume them to be Seth and Dean. That is if the description Roman had given me of their character held true.

Aleister had brought them into the living room and before I could even get our words, Roman lit up from the smile on my own face.

“Holy hell, baby girl you’re looking happier than I’ve ever seen you!” He had his arms open looking for a hug and I walked into them willingly. “I didn’t know what to think when Adam said you’d been kidnapped, from him of all people?”

“I’m way happier being here with Aleister than with Cole.” I laughed before pulling back to tug at the hairs of his beard gently. “This is getting thicker, Reigns! It’s good to see you.”

“Good to see you too.” He turned me towards the men behind him and gestured to both of them. “This is Seth and Dean, figured I’d finally bring them around to meet you. Especially since Black wanted to negotiate stronger loyalty ties.”

Seth shook my hand first and smiled awkwardly. “Hey there, sweetheart. Pretty sure if Aleister hadn’t busted you out when he did, Ro here would’ve called in the calvary.”

Dean snorted, shaking my hand right after Seth. “Ya damn right, and we’re all he would need to make that son of a bitch piss his pants.”

While I talked idly with the two new friends in the room, Aleister sat talking to Roman. It all seemed rather friendly, not exactly business-like if I was being honest. They seemed comfortable enough, even with my presence I would think Roman and Aleister would’ve agreed that Adam was a piece of manipulative, controlling shit.

“Well shit, if it isn’t the Big Dog! Didn’t think you’d be coming around with your brothers any time soon!”

Our conversations stopped to look at Baron who was striding through the front door with a grin on his face. Roman jumped up, shook hands, and slapped Baron on the back. “Nice to see you too, didn’t think the lone wolf would be sticking so closely to a domesticated existence either.”

“Promised to protect that princess everyone seems to have taken an interest in.”

“As long as you don’t call me a fucking damsel in distress, Corb we’re solid.”

Baron snorted and shook his head. “Wouldn’t dream of it, kid. You’re no damsel.”

I scoffed, “tell that to that Pete Dunne guy.”

Roman, Seth, and Dean all turned to look at me. Their expressions were suddenly serious, and Dean rumbled, “the hell was Dunne doing around here?”

“Uh…” I wasn’t sure what to say so I looked over at Aleister.

He thankfully swooped in to save my ass. “He was here yesterday, we were discussing business and she happened to stumble upon our conversation.”

Seth shook his head, “I suggest you keep him away from any of your operations.”

“Guy’s a fuckin’ snake.” Dean practically spits out the accusation.

“He came alone Dean, hardly a threat.”

“Bullshit! That son of a bitch does nothing alone. While you were in here talking business, I bet you his little posse was scouting the perimeter to find weak points in your security.”

Baron piped up this time, leaning against the couch I was sitting on with Dean and Seth. “‘the hell he do to you three?”

“He got us to turn against Rollins.” Roman and Seth were quiet, both of them looking straight at Dean with their fists tight in their laps. “Seth has been acting weird with us, keeping his distance and not coming around like he used to. Reigns and I both wondered what was up, turns out Dunne was in his ear sayin’ some shit.”

“He told me if I didn’t provide aid to that shit show of a mafia group The Authority then my brother’s would get their asses handed to them.” Seth grimaced, looking at the coffee table ahead of him like he was watching the event happen in real-time.

Roman cleared his throat and leaned forward to have his elbows rest on his knees. “The Dunne came around to us to leak the news of Seth’s supposed betrayal. We were in shock, we were angry. It felt like he’d taken a metal chair to everything we’d built together and destroyed it.”

“I lost my brothers for a long time after that bastard wormed his way in between us,” Seth spoke quietly, looking between both Dean and Roman.

It was silent for a minute or two, and all I knew to do was squeeze both of their shoulders until they looked at me. “You all have each other now. Stop looking so damned gloomy, it’s not worth dwelling on the past.”

Roman smiles then, clapping both of his hands together which startled them. “You’re right! We’re together now, that’s what we should be focusing on!”

Aleister, god bless him, was still looking like someone pissed in his cereal. He looked like he’d been duped by someone in his own home, even if he hadn’t fully trusted Pete in the first place. “If Dunne is looking to stir up more trouble with myself and Cole as his pawns, can I count on you three to have my back?”

“Damn straight,” Dean said first and stuck out his fist in front of him, Roman and Seth barely waited a second to join him in the sentiment.

–

A couple of days later, Aleister had been in and out of the house trying to make sure the rest of his contacts and friends were still, well,  _ friends _ . I ended up being left alone with either Baron or Marty during the day, sometimes this girl named Bayley would come around to check on the security systems and make sure everything was on its A-game while Aleister was away.

For some reason though, I’d always find it a bit tough to fall asleep when Aleister wasn’t around. It was probably because he always made me feel so safe, even though both Baron and Marty were currently asleep in their own rooms. Regardless, it was 11 pm, quickly closing in on midnight and I wasn’t here for insomnia coming around to bite me in the ass and thought a cup of tea would suffice to calm whatever nerves that were roaming around inside me. When I got into the kitchen though I heard a soft echo of some kind of… thumping?  _ Dear God, please don’t let one of the boys be dicking someone down. That’s the last thing I need to fucking hear. _

Despite my grievances, and with my tea in hand, I trucked forward trying to figure out where the sound was coming from. Thankfully —thank  _ God _ — the sounds were towards the gym. Unless Baron or Marty couldn’t sleep either, I didn’t think it was them, but Aleister hadn’t come home yet either, ‘ _ Business with Bálor and The Club,’  _ or whatever he had said, but the sounds coming out of the gym told otherwise. Well, unless there was an intruder in the gym and I was about to be shit outta luck.

The loud thumps proved to be Aleister’s gloves landing solid pointed jabs on the bag echoed through the gym he had. Carefully, and very,  _ very _ slowly, I walked on the balls of my feet across the floor towards him and the sound. Both Baron’s and Marty’s words of warning echoing through my mind, don’t disturb the boss when he’s working out, yet I wasn’t adhering to any of the warnings.

I saw him there, no music playing in the background, wondering if he had headphones in or if he just liked to work out in silence. The tattoos that I had once marveled at upon first meeting him were out on display, the witch on his back a menacing figure. She made me wonder if her reason for being was so that Aleister had eyes watching his back; I wondered if he could see me right now, even as he focused on the punching bag.

I sat on top of a few workout steps waiting and watching him kick the bag a few times which was quickly followed by a few jabs. I saw he had wireless headphones in, snug tightly in his ears and I, mesmerized by his fluid movements and the beads of sweat sliding down his arms and back, couldn’t help but stare.

The situation was too perfect for me not to take out my phone and snap a few shots to keep for myself. To say that I was slightly obsessed with the look of Aleister Black would be a grave understatement. He was gentle, despite his outer appearance, but by no means unable to break bones.

When I stood up to leave him alone — keep my distance like Baron and Marty had suggested I do in the first place — I accidentally knocked over the workout steps I’d been sitting on top of, causing a loud clatter in the gym.

Aleister pivoted around quickly with his arms up still like he was ready to fight. His fist came out like a shot, narrowly missing my face and I was too caught off guard to even try to protect my face as Baron had taught me.

The hard expression he had broke when it registered that it had only been me. “Oh my god, love I’m so sorry.”

My chest felt tight and it suddenly was getting hard to breathe.  _ Fuck. I should’ve listened, shouldn’t have come in here. Shouldn’t have fucking toed the line _ . “I-I’m the one that’s sorry, shouldn’t have snuck up on you like that.” My knuckles were white around the teacup and my body twitchy, needing to just  _ get out. _

“Are you okay?” Aleister pulled off his gloves and reached out to me, but I recoiled from his touch, much too shaky to even be able to handle him  _ touching _ me. He looked almost hurt by my rejection.

“I, uh, I’m gonna go outside for a bit if you don’t mind?” He shook his head and I turned around to quickly leave the room.

Once I’d stepped outside on the back patio it took me a second to breathe in the clean night air, and finally, breathe easily again. _Fuck_ , I had been so close to panicking in front of him. Aleister hadn’t even touched me, but he almost had. I felt the wind against my face from the force of his fist when it happened. Then again, I was the one that snuck up on someone who was usually so used to being on his guard 24/7.

“I need to practice counter punches,” I mumbled into my cup. I walked further off of the patio, thinking I’d sit in the gazebo that was set out in the middle of the lawn. “Shit, forget countering being a damsel, maybe I need therapy.”

It was half a joke, but therapy was an idea I toyed around with for years. I had to deal with and fix my own baggage before I could be progressive, I guess.

As soon as I stepped into the gazebo a hand clamped a cloth against my face and tightened their other hand around my body, letting my mug shatter against the floor. “Dunne said you weren’t a damsel in distress, I call absolute bullshit.”

Killian  _ fucking _ Dain? My consciousness began fading quickly and my limbs grew heavy.  _ Fuck _ , I thought,  _ Baron’s gonna be so pissed I didn’t fight back. _


	4. Sick to my stomach

I wondered if there would ever be a time when having a gun pointed at me didn’t feel familiar. Maybe I’d grow out of it. Maybe one day I’d feel safe and the cold barrel of a gun pressed against my forehead, my temple or my chest wouldn’t make me smile. A cold and quick sort of violence.

“I see that you’re awake then, love.”

Pete was stood next to the man who had the gun pointed at me. He was smirking, more than likely thinking about how well everything was falling into place for him.

My arms weren’t bound, and neither were my legs. I could get up and run if I had wanted to, that was probably why the gun was necessary. I was in an apartment, at least what I could only assume was an apartment by the footsteps and the shouting on the floor above me, and the closing of drawers and cabinets on the other side of the wall I was pressed up against.

“I didn’t foresee kidnapping being your thing, Dunne.”

“It isn’t, honestly. I can’t stand captives. They’re all just loud and whiny liabilities.” The smirk having never left his face grew larger, turning itself into a sinister grin. “I’m not the one that took you, I’m sorry t’ say.”

I couldn’t help but quirk up an eyebrow at his statement. “I know that I saw Killian Dain before he slapped a chloroform cloth over my face.” It took me another minute to realize that there were people in the place that I was being held, but no sign of Killian or his Sanity squad. “Either you’re holding me for Sanity or this entire thing was your idea.”

“Why don’t you figure that out for yourself, sweetheart?”

I scoffed at him then slowly started to stand up, my ass had gone numb seemingly hours ago while I was still knocked out. Before I could properly regain my footing, I was shoved harshly against the wall with the barrel of the gun tucked uncomfortably under my chin. I tilted my head up trying to keep the metal from digging harshly into my skin.

“Dunne, how about you get this trigger-happy piece of shit off me. I’m probably worth more to the cause alive, anyhow.”

Pete studied me for a moment, taking in the nonchalant way I seemed to react. “Don’t fear death, do ya?”

My eyes flickered over to Pete for a minute. “Not since I was a kid.”

He nodded, seeming impressed. “Get off her. She won’t run, there’s no need to be so rough with the lady.”

“What a gentleman,” I deadpanned. Once the man was off he holstered his gun and stole a glance at his boss before he was waved off. Brushing myself off, I pushed off the wall and took a couple of cautious steps towards Dunne. “So, what are you using me for, hm? I got a funny vibe off of you when you were at Aleister’s, can only imagine what you’ve got cooked up in that brain of yours.”

He gave me an appreciative look - his eyes roaming over my very plain pajama-clad body. I had been taken in the middle of the night, I’m lucky I even had sweatpants on. With him looking at me my body caught a shiver, suddenly going nearly ice-cold under his gaze. He must’ve noticed it because he raised an eyebrow before shrugging off his coat and draping it over my shoulders.

“Wouldn’t want you catchin’ a cold, now would we love?” He hummed, “We should get you some new clothes, probably.”

“Thank you,” I mumbled begrudgingly and tugged the coat a bit closer to my person. “Are you gonna tell me what you’ve-“

“Personal gain,” he shrugged with a cocky smirk that complemented his words. He turned his back to me and beckoned me to follow him. “This is where you‘ll be stayin’ until we need you for further use.” He gestured at the living room and the kitchen as he led me further into the apartment. “There are two beds and two baths, one for you and one for the guard assigned to you. Just so you can’t escape, alright love?”

I blinked lazily at him while I white-knuckled the lapels of the coat. “Guard assigned to me?”

He nodded and tipped his chin up to gesture at someone over my shoulder. “Bate, you’re gonna be stickin’ around here.”

Behind me was an oddly young-looking guy. His smile was… well, adorable? Almost cute enough to reach out and poke at his smile lines. I was close to questioning Dunne’s trust, but this Bate guy seemed capable enough. The polo he was wearing highlighted the coiled muscle underneath and that was honestly enough to make me think he was probably more than capable of “sticking around.”

“Guess I don’t have much of a say in the matter?”

Bate walked up right behind me and slung his arm over my shoulders. “Not a bit.”

* * *

Days seemed to pass being cooped up in that apartment. At least when I was staying with Aleister I could go out and do what I wanted - bodyguard provided and the boys on speed dial, of course. But now, with this Bate kid on my ass — Just call me Tyler, Bate is so formal-like — I wasn’t allowed to do anything. I could hardly take a piss without him knocking on the door every few seconds to make sure I wasn’t trying to shimmy my way out through the tiny window.

Tyler wasn’t exactly the meanest person I’d ever met. Most of the time he was pretty chill, but when he wasn’t… it was usually because I was trying to escape and it became increasingly terrifying to even entertain the idea. This time around was my third escape attempt. I was halfway down the hallway outside of the apartment, having got away with a sharp elbow to the gut and a quick jab straight to his nose, when my path was blocked off by what I could only assume was more of Dunne’s men.

“I’m givin’ you a choice, love.” Tyler’s voice came from just outside the doorway of the apartment. His hands were flexing into fists at his sides and I could tell he was forcing himself not to stalk over and put his hands on me. “You can choose to walk back here of your own volition or I make you.”

He was faster than me, that much I knew. My amateur training with Baron was nowhere near enough to protect me against him, and if I tried to leave now I could only see myself being yanked back by the roots of my hair and a hand clasped over my throat. Whether it was by him or the two men whose eyes were boring into my back.

Tyler’s fists clenched tight and he took a step forward when I didn’t immediately come back over to him. “Ok! Alright!” I surrendered with my hands up in defense. “I’m coming back. Just, promise not to touch me when I get close.”

“Can’t do that.” He shook his head, wiping the streaks of blood away from his nose with the back of his hand. “If I don’t latch onto your cheeky little ass now, then how the hell do I know you won’t try anything?”

“I won’t,” I said quietly as I stepped carefully forward. “Just, please don’t-“ When I got close enough, Tyler’s arms shot out to grip tightly at my biceps and I immediately panicked, squeezing my eyes shut as his fingers dug harshly into my skin. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry… please don’t hurt me.”

He dragged me back inside the apartment and threw me down into one of the armchairs. My body frozen in place, I didn’t dare meet his eyes. All the fire and confidence I had earlier to escape had left me so quickly it felt like I had been punched in the gut.

“You turned very, dare I say, helpless once I became physical with you. I might even say that you were paralyzed with the fear of what I might do to you.” The boyish grin that I had come to associate with Tyler was replaced by something sick and twisted. His eyes had gone dark behind his glasses — honestly, the glasses made it fucking worse. Any criminal that wears glasses has some type of shit under their sleeves. “A past with physical abuse, probably.” I felt my body twitch at his words and I knew that with the way his eyes widened he had caught the movement. “Ah, I’m right, aren’t I?” He chuckled, “I’m gonna have some fun with you, love.” Tyler crouched down in front of me and I tried desperately to get my breathing into shape, but everything was trembling. My breath, my body, my bottom lip; all erupting into nervous tremors. He placed his palms carefully on my knees and watched as my own eyes flickered down to his hands and then back to his face. “Don’t worry, I’m not daft to try anything without Pete’s permission. He’d break all of my fingers.”

I never thought that in the limited time I’d known of Pete Dunne’s existence that I would be thanking him for saving my sanity.

* * *

A few days after that incident, Pete had shown up at the door, spewing about Bálor and his Queen. From what I caught from the conversation, he was sending Tyler and someone else called Trent in to ‘take care of the queen and make sure the demon gets the message.’ There was a very large part of me that was cursing myself for not having broken out already. Someone was going to die, a person close to someone Aleister knew, and I wasn’t quite sure if it was all my fault.

Sat quietly in my room I thought about Aleister and the last time I talked to him, and how I wouldn’t even let him touch me. Too afraid and caught up in my issues to even consider how bad he had felt for putting me in that situation. How I stepped outside like a complete idiot - I shook my head, angry at myself, and then there was a heavy hand that settled on my shoulder.

“You’ve been sitting in the same position for over an hour, starin’ at the drywall.”

My head snapped up and caught eyes with Pete, his face looked triumphant, the same smirk he had when I was first brought here days before. “I’m thinking about how easy I’ve made it for you since you brought me here.”

“Easy?” He snorts, “I seem to recall Tyler reporting back a few times that you tried to escape.”

“It didn’t exactly work out, now did it?” I snapped, and I looked away from him when he sat down in the chair next to me.

“Tyler’s known to get particularly rough with his captives, can’t tell ya how many times I’ve had to pry him off of someone he’d beaten bloody just so he wouldn’t kill ‘em.” Pete’s voice was low and intimidating. I could tell that he was trying to make me feel small, grateful even that Tyler hadn’t followed through with his normal advancements when someone made him angry. “He said he could see the fear in your eyes and the way your skin twitched. PTSD, I suppose. Looked up your records- ”

“Shut up,” I whispered.

“- saw that your dad liked t’ lay his hands on you and your mum.“ I still wasn’t looking at him and I refused to do so now. “Must’ve really muffed everything, didn’t it? The drinking, the beatings, and the worst of them all-“

I closed my eyes against his words, seeing flashes of the past once more. Rough calloused hands burning brands of torture into my skin. One wrapped tightly around my throat, just barely loose enough to let me breathe, while the other gripped my bicep enough to leave an ache underneath my skin.

“Just think, if your piss poor excuse for a father would’ve hit you with the chair instead of your mum, you wouldn’t be in this situation.” The laughter in Pete’s words was wholly apparent and I wanted to throw up. I could taste the acidity of bile rising before I even tried to speak.

“I’d be dead,” I could tell that the look in my eyes was still dazed and still looking as if I was stuck in some kind of memory maddened limbo. “I wouldn’t be used for anyone’s personal gain.”

Pete reached out to stroke the back of his hand gently down the side of my face and I visibly flinched at the contact. “Now, wouldn’t that make things dull.”

Just then, the front door slammed open and Pete shot up on sudden high alert with his gun drawn towards the commotion. I blinked heavily, slowly turning in my chair to see who had burst in so suddenly, but it turned out to only be Tyler and someone else leaning on his shoulder. They were both badly beaten, faces looking as if someone had dutifully laid into them. Tyler’s usually ruggedly handsome face was splattered in blood, his own or someone else’s I couldn’t tell, and his left eye looked swollen shut. The man looking limp around his shoulder was even worse. The blood in his beard had a very distinct color contrast from his hair color. Half of his face looked swollen, and I wondered what he would look like passed his now nearly unrecognizable features. I questioned who had handed them the ass kicking’s because they both looked like utter shit.

Pete holstered his gun quickly before striding swiftly over to his two men. “Tyler, Trent – what the hell happened to the two of you!?”

“Bálor happened,” Tyler groaned and deposited the Trent fellow onto the couch to rest while he plopped into the armchair. “We were close to disposing of the woman. She’s a trained killer after all, so it was a bit difficult to subdue her, but once we got her where we wanted her — on the cusp of passing out and actual suffocation — Bálor and his men burst in. It’s obvious to say that he went mental.”

“So, you failed the fucking mission?!” Pete didn’t seem to give a shit about his friends, focused more instead on the result of the events at hand. “Goddammit, you two! Bálor’s going to be more pissed and less of a mournin’ mess because of your prattling around like a couple’a dumbasses!” For a minute or two, he paced the expanse of the apartment floor looking lost in thought. But then, he whipped his body around to look at me with fury written all over his features and his snarling grimace. “It’s time we play the bargaining chip that’s been with us for the last handful of days.”

“What?” I stood up abruptly, causing my chair to clatter to the floor. “No, you –”

“You don’t have a fucking say!” Pete quickly shot his hand out to hold firmly onto my arm, like I would have tried to run away from him somehow if he hadn’t grabbed me right then. “Tyler, call Young, tell him to assemble everyone together. We’re ready to bargain.”

* * *

I didn’t understand why every big reveal of the villain or final battle always ended up in a huge ass warehouse that was essentially empty. It was a warehouse – there aren’t many that are just conveniently empty for big blowouts like gang fights, and being tied up to the single chair that just so happened to be in the very middle of the large expanse of space was too much of a move from every action-slash-kidnapping movie ever.

“You mean to tell me that you’re just going to negotiate my retrieval between Adam and Aleister in a dark, grimy warehouse? I’m suddenly getting flashbacks to the movie Live Free or Die Hard.”

Eric Young looked over at me, flanked by Killian, Alexander, and Nikki. “Think you’re so hilarious, don’t ya?” His smiling was devilish and intimidating. He walked over to me slowly, ringing a roll of duct tape around his finger before ripping off a good-sized piece. “Let’s keep that pretty little mouth of yours shut for the time bein’.” The tape was slapped harshly over my mouth, bits of my hair getting caught up in the adhesive in the process.

He stood next to Pete as his eyes looked gazed at the wooden crates that were perched up against the walls of the warehouse. “Tyler and Trent comin’ along, Dunne?”

“They ran into Finn Bálor – Didn’t quite make it out unscathed.” Even Eric seemed to wince at the mention of Bálor, making me curious about how dangerous the man truly was. Not like I hadn’t seen the damage he’d done to both guys, but it also just seemed like they had been caught off guard or had lost the upper hand in a fight. “Don’t worry though, Young. I’ve got people on standby.”

Eric grinned then and squared his shoulders before waving for Alexander and Killian to move in closer – Nikki having already moved further into the warehouse, like the loose cannon she was.

I felt a large presence behind me that leaned down and whispered into my ear. “Listen, love. I’m going to need you to cooperate with us.” Pete’s icy tone made me tense. I could tell just by his words that whatever he was about to say would be serious and possibly life or death. “Aleister and Adam were advised to arrive with as little backup as deemed necessary. You know, the basics. Cole with his two clowns for mates, and Black with Corbin and whatever other dimwitted lads he’s got walkin’ around.” I grunted, trying to get some words out through the duct tape, but it was utterly pointless for me to even try. Pete just chuckled at my struggling. “Don’t try anything stupid, understand? We’ve treated you nicely, but it’ll be a sick pleasure for some of us if we tortured you in front of them.”

I couldn’t even react, the tears that rimmed my eyes burned and I tried to blink them away as Pete tugged briefly at strands of my hair. Then there were slow footsteps that encompassed the space around me. A hand settled heavily down onto my shoulder and when I looked at the culprit, Nikki was grinning wickedly down at me.

“Can’t wait t’ get my hands on y’r man, sweetie!”

“Remember who’s in charge, you four. I won’t tolerate this operation going tits up.” Pete reminded them.

In the short few minutes that I had my eyes closed, there were six different men stood several feet away in front of me. Adam, of course, the first to ever open his mouth up to protest something.

“Pete, what’s going on here? Why the hell do you have her tied up and duct-taped like that!?”

He looked like he’d gotten brand new pressed suits recently. Form-fitting and with a pocket square and all, Bobby and Kyle looked just as dapper, almost like it was necessary for this meeting. What the fuck even was this, the meeting of the five bosses?

“Shut up, you weasel. The hell does this look like to you?” Young barked, never being one to hide his immense distaste for Adam Cole. “We’ve got a little present for either you or Mister Black over here!”

At his words, Nikki squeezed my cheeks and rolled my head around obnoxiously to get some kind of reaction out of either myself or the men upfront and center. I could hardly find the courage to look over at Aleister and whomever he had brought along with him. I was shaking, my core temperature had gone cold, and the sheer terror of what the coming events could have in store for someone that I cared about. Especially with my muted knowledge that Pete had more people standing by in the wings.

“Alright, Young, no need to get the pot stirrin’ with Cole so early.” Pete stepped forward and gave a firm pat to Eric’s shoulder to have him fall back. “We’ve got something the both of you want, but she comes with a very large price.” His smile was sharp at the edges and when we met eyes it grew like the Cheshire Cat. “The two of us have gotten on quite well, no bumps or bruises on her delicate skin.” Pete looked over at Adam, “Not that you would care, Adam. From what I’ve heard you’ve had more guns pointed at her than I have fingers.” Despite some sputtering and protesting from Adam, Pete moved on to settle his gaze on Aleister whom I assumed to be standing on my right before looking over at me for a second more. “Look at her, she won’t even make eye contact with you, Black!”

Adam grumbled, “The hell you’ve been doing to her, Aleister? She was never this timid.”

“Fucking hell, Cole.” That was Baron’s baritone. “You really don’t know when to keep your trap shut!”

Then there was what felt like a long pause and a stale silence that filled that warehouse to the absolute brim. There was a soft inhale of breath that could be heard clearly amongst the small crowd of us. It was like they were waiting for me to summon up the courage to meet his eyes, to admit to himself as well as myself that my own cowardice was the reason why we were in this mess.

“Liefje, look at me.” Aleister’s voice was soft, but commanding. “Look at me so that I know you’re ok.” It took me a minute to look him in the eye. When I was able, I was met with the same steel-blue that I had looked into when I first met him inside of Adam’s house; closed off and seemingly callous. He looked tired and angrier than I had ever seen him before. “Are you alright?”

I nodded as best I could and Aleister sighed, pointing languidly at me. “Remove the tape off of her mouth, I want to hear her say that she’s ok before we negotiate anything with you, Dunne.”

Pete sneered, never breaking his concentration off Aleister’s face before giving the go-ahead to Nikki. She then promptly ripped it off without so much as a warning or a countdown, the lousy piece of trash. I immediately licked my lips, then looked back at both Aleister and Baron. “I’ve been wanting to tell you something, Baron.” He looked quite shocked at the fact that I had addressed him first, but he seemed interested all the same. Nikki’s hand snaked behind my head and gripped the base of my neck, ready to strike at a moment’s notice. “Wanted to apologize, all that training, and I couldn’t even fend off a surprise attack from the big oaf over there.”

Baron grinned and shook his head. I watched as Aleister’s shoulders relaxed a little, but the man next to him, someone that I didn’t recognize still seemed strung tight and ready for a fight.

“Not a problem, princess. I promise we’ll work on that when we get you back safe and sound.”

Pete stepped forward again and clapped his hands together once to get everyone’s attention back to the real reason all of them were gathered. “Now, I’m not shocked that Baron is here with Aleister, he seems to be everywhere with you nowadays, Black – but, the Demon King himself, standing in consolidation with the Black Mass? Odd.”

The man – apparently Bálor – snarled at Pete and I would have sworn that I saw a bit of a twitch in his shoulder, possibly out of fear. “Listen t’ me, Dunne. Y’r damned lucky I haven’t decided to walk across the couple’a feet between us and bloody up that ugly mug of yours.”

Pete acted like he was shocked at Bálor’s words, placing a hand over his chest, and letting out an exasperated breath. “I know you’re supposed to be this Demon that strikes fear into the very souls of men, but I haven’t the damnedest clue what I did to deserve such hostility!”

Because I’m unable to keep anything to myself, I scoffed and earned a very rough yank of my hair from Nikki. Bálor’s eyes flickered over to me for a second and I could feel the collision of ice and fire in my veins with just his stare.

Through clenched teeth, Eric hissed at Nikki. “Nikki, keep the girl quiet or she won’t be the only one in a rough spot, understand?”

Nikki looked spooked. It was a look I hadn’t seen in the very few encounters I’ve had with her. She always seemed like nothing could phase her, but then again, those who seem to have a few screws loose were usually the ones that have been abused the most. Eric’s words seemed to kick her into gear and she twisted her fingers tighter into the strands of my hair, wrenching my head back in the process.

“Better keep y’r lips zipped, princess!” She hissed, and I cringed at the nickname. ‘Princess’ didn’t sound right coming from her.

There was the sudden popping of knuckles and with my limited vision I could barely make out that it was Finn who had made the noise with his fists planted by his sides. He apparently had had enough of the bickering between parties.

“Y’r men laid their hands on my queen. My hostility isn’t unwarranted, you sniveling piece of shit!”

There was a low whistle a little to my right and I could only assume that it came from the peanut gallery, aka The Undisputed Era.

Finn looked like he was about to lunge full body at Pete if Aleister hadn’t hastily shot out his hand to settle him. Bálor was seething, his breathing pattern erratic and his body twitching with odd tremors. It wasn’t unnoticed where the moniker “Demon King” came in because he looked as if he was about to transform into a bloodthirsty being at any second – if he hadn’t already.

Pete’s nasty grin became tight-lipped and he started to slowly pace in front of my chair between myself and the rest of the men. “You see, Aleister Black, you run a lot of the organized crime operation in this city. Dare I say most of it? You are The Kingpin. Then, there are other bosses: The three Shield brothers who aren’t with us,” Pete gestured over to Baron, “Baron Corbin, Liar’s Club boss,” then to Finn, “and The Demon King. Quite a lot of allies you’ve seemed to bring under one umbrella, mate.”

Aleister nodded, the same unamused, emotionless look on his face. “I run a tight operation. I make sure whoever takes care of me gets taken care of in return. Thus, I’ve gained a lot of traction and a lot of business.”

Dunne nodded and continued his slow pace before stopping and turning to face Adam. “Then we have you. Rollin’ on to the scene, trying to act as if you and your monkeys are entitled to a piece of Black’s profits.”

“Yeah, well, fuck you! I’ve got numbers, Dunne, numbers. I came on the scene with ease and will have no problem dethroning the Black Mass.” Adam was speaking to Pete but looking directly at Aleister as he spoke, clearly riled up with Pete’s comment. “If it hadn’t been for you then I’d also have the girl. You hear me, beautiful? If it wasn’t for the show off over here you wouldn’t even be in this mess!”

“I’m in this mess because of you, you pretentious piece of-“ Nikki’s hand slapped over my mouth and I flinched at the impact.

“Watch the way you put your hands on her, Cross.” The voice was Aleister’s and his tone was level and as cold as ice.

Nikki laughed loudly and pushed something cold and metal against my throat. “You shouldn’t be worried about my hands, Black!”

It wasn’t a gun against my throat, it was a cool metal change over from a barrel to a blade. Getting my throat cut was definitely not a way I wanted to go out, so I was more than willing to keep my mouth shut from then on. There was shuffling, something I couldn’t see because Nikki had yanked my head back to where I was staring completely at the ceiling. A bunch of yelling and squabbling. Adam saying some more obscenities and nearly – maybe literally – spitting on someone. It sounded like a big one too and if I wasn’t so preoccupied with the knife held to my throat and the extreme kink in my neck I knew was forming, I probably would have laughed. He probably aimed it at one of Sanity because the only reason why they are even here is that they hate Adam and will follow a larger force if it means Adam Cole burns

Nikki pulled back the knife and let go of my hair, ready to throw herself into the fray of whatever quarrel her comrades were engaged in. But before she could even move from her place next to me, Pete, with his hands behind his back, stood in front of the men who were arguing and yelling, not only at him but at each other, and simply said:

“Enough.”

They didn’t stop immediately, only when hidden men appeared perched on the wooden crates surrounding us with guns pointed at them did they halt their actions and suddenly turn on the offense.

“Dunne, what is this?” Kyle mumbled, “You told us all to come with two people max.”

Pete leered, “Of course, I gave myself the upper hand.” Trent and Tyler, still busted up and bruised from their very recent attack from Bálor, came out of the woodwork – almost literally – and stood next to Pete in solid union with one another. Finn looked even angrier, ready to tear the flesh off the bone this time around. “Now,” Pete pulled a gun from the back of his waistband and pointed his arm back, aimed straight at me without so much as a turn of his head from the rest of the men. “You have a choice: You both come work for me, turn over whatever influences you have in the city and whatever people you have planted in different organizations over to me, Or you refuse, she dies, and if that still doesn’t convince you, I kill all of you as collateral.”

The choice, honestly, was easy. Don’t turn anything over, but I knew that Aleister would be difficult if he wanted to play the hero. Adam, on the other hand? He didn’t want to die and if it meant he had to give up whatever minimal power he had accumulated, then so be it.

“No.”

I blinked up at Aleister who was staring Pete in the face with his arms crossed over his chest. I thought I had heard him wrong, but if the absolutely incredulous look on Baron’s face was anything to go by, I heard correctly.

“What was that Black?” even Pete seemed shocked.

“I said, ‘no’. I’m not turning anything over to you, not even for the life of a woman.”

“Boss, what the fuck are you talking about? You’re okay with her dying?” Baron was getting worked up, his voice levels raising, and I couldn’t look away from Aleister. I wanted him so badly to just look at me and tell me to my face that he didn’t care if I died or not. “This wasn’t part of the fucking plan!”

Aleister paid Baron no mind, not even bothering to glance at him.

Adam, who had been watching the exchange with saucer-sized eyes, finally came back to himself after some elbowing from Bobby and Kyle. “I, uh, yeah! I’m not giving you shit either, Dunne! Weren’t expecting that were you, ya British bastard!”

Pete gripped the gun firmer in his hand and pulled the trigger.

I might have screamed – everything went haywire for a minute and I wasn’t sure. My throat burned, and it felt dry. My ears were ringing so piercingly loud with the close proximity of the gun, that it was almost like I could see and hear white, drowning out a shout from Baron and a protest from Adam. The watering in my eyes burned as well and the searing, red hot pain in my right shoulder began to spread from my chest down to my arm.

I wasn’t dead, that I knew, but the pain was much worse than anything a bullet straight to the head would have brought on. I felt sick to my stomach. That kind of sick that makes you wonder if you’ll throw up soon, the kind that works itself up from your stomach and slithers its way up into your chest until it sits menacingly in the back of your throat, waiting for its cue to rise.

I’ve felt worse, I told myself. You’ve been dealt worse.

When the ringing stopped I looked over at my shoulder to see the new bloody hole and knew that the bullet hadn’t made a clean exit out, still clearly lodged in my shoulder.

“You fucking missed, asshole.” I huffed, feeling out of breath. I supposed getting shot was pretty taxing on the body when it tears through flesh and muscle. “Aim for the head if you’re trying to kill me.”

“What the fuck,” I heard Kyle whisper, and I was unsure if it was astonishment at my reaction or the fact I had just been shot.

I looked over at him, a lazy grin on my face. “Are you shocked, O’Reilly? How many times has your boss had a gun pointed at me?”

Pete holstered his gun. “I almost forgot,” he chuckled and turned to Tyler with a nod, signaling him to make his way towards me instead. “Nikki, sheath that damned blade. Go stand with the rest of your crew, Tyler will take care of the damsel here.”

I watched Tyler come towards me; busted face and all with a glint in his eye. Then Finn moved closer to Aleister and whispered something in his ear.

I wasn’t sure what he said to him, but I wasn’t given much time to ponder on it before I felt a finger dig into my new open wound in my shoulder, and that time I heard myself let out a piercing shriek. Tyler’s other hand wrapped around my throat to grip my jaw, forcing me to look directly at Aleister.

“I want you to look at him while I make you cry, give him a good show.” He said into my ear.

Aleister unfolded his arms and placed them carefully behind his back. He didn’t seem disturbed by the turn of events whatsoever and I think a large part of me really wanted to die at that moment. If one of the people I trusted didn’t give a shit about me what was even the point of being in this fucked up situation? I need to know how to protect you. News Flash! You’re doing a shit job of it right now, Black!

“Tyler Bate,” the finger grinding into my wound paused at Aleister’s use of his full name. “I suggest you stop touching her.”

Tyler’s had settled instead on my throat and squeezed, “Or what?”

“Or I’ll blow your brains out,” said the familiar, deep gravelly voice behind him. Tyler’s hands slowly left my person and I heard him step back just as carefully. “That’s what I like to see: cooperation!”

I whipped my head around to see Roman fucking Reigns with a gun pointed to Tyler’s head, and as my eyes roamed over the rest of the layout I saw Seth and Dean with their own firearms pointed at Pete and Trent, Sanity being policed by two unfamiliar bald men that nodded at Finn, making me believe they were part of his entourage. Marty had rolled in with people that I had come to recognize as Baron’s motorcycle gang with their matching Liar’s Club shirts on. There were others in tactical gear that I assumed was a fragment of each respective part of The Shield.

Even with the dizziness that was slowly closing in on me from the pain and the blood loss, I was smiling. Maybe we hadn’t won the entire war, but we sure as hell won the current battle. What was even better was the guns pointed at the equally terrified Undisputed Era, all three of them back to back with one another with their hands up in their expensively dapper suits trying to talk themselves out of being shot.

“Now, you have a choice:” Aleister mimicked the words that Pete had used only minutes before, “You either stand down or we kill you right here, right now.” Pete--smile having left his face rather quickly--snarled at him. “Did you honestly think that I would come here unprepared? How do you think I became a kingpin?” Aleister was smiling so confidently that it was nearly infectious.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a smaller figure come out of the shadowy parts of the warehouse. She was tiny, but I could sense the power in her body as she approached, and I couldn’t deny that she was beautiful to boot. Her eyebrow and lip had butterfly band-aids over them, and the area around her eye looked a little bruised. She winked at me as she passed my chair, the rest of the room completely silent as they watched her stand right next to Roman.

“I’ve got this, handsome. You go untie the priceless merchandise.”

“Yes ma’am,” Roman handed her the gun, but she clicked the safety on and stuck it in the waistband of her pants. “He’s going to be missing some teeth in a second,” he whispered to me as he worked me out of my binds.

As soon as her knee came up to jam him in his balls, he hunched over, giving her access to interlock her fingers behind his neck and bring her knee up once again to drive right into his nose and teeth. At the moment of impact, Finn barked out a laugh and a loud, “That’s my queen!” Immediately giving me clarification on who she was.

“I believe it’s in your best interest to leave the warehouse right now, make sure you take Bate with you.” Aleister leaned his head over a bit to look passed Pete’s shoulder at Tyler and the queen. “If you can pull him away from her, that is.”

By the time Roman got my hands and legs untied, everyone that wasn’t an ally – Undisputed Era included – had left the warehouse. I stupidly decided that I was fine and 100% able to stand up, despite blood having coated most of my arm and the extreme lightheadedness I was most definitely feeling.

“Oh, uh, this doesn’t feel good.” Roman was there to catch me when my legs gave out. “Sorry about that.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t force yourself to move too much, baby girl. You were just shot by that son of a bitch.” Aleister came over then, signs of worry etched on his features, but looking at him still made me sick to my stomach. “We have to get that bullet out of her shoulder, then we need to talk about your tactics.”

“Just take me to a hospital.” Baron sucked air through his teeth as he came up behind Aleister. “What?” I looked up at Roman, not even looking at Aleister for the answer. “What’s wrong with a hospital?”

“We don’t do hospitals, baby girl, too much paperwork.”

I shrugged with my good shoulder. “Alright then, anyone have tools to pull it out?” My body suddenly became heavy, and my vision was starting to go gray and hazy. “Oh god,” my fingers latched on to Roman’s chest plate as I swayed in his arms and he held me closer to his chest before scooping me up in a princess carry. “Gonna pass out,” I mumbled.

“She’s losing too much blood. We have to figure something out, Black, and quick.”

There was a sigh and a quiet apology before my vision went dark.


	5. What about these feelings I've got?

_ …hit you with the chair instead of your mum, you wouldn’t be in this situation… _

_ …I’m not turning anything over to you, not even for the life of a woman… _

It was like I was floating inside my mind, an odd echoing of statements replayed over and over. The things Pete said to me about my father brought out the scared little girl that was always hiding behind the older parts of my psyche. And Aleister? I was being thrown away each time I heard the words uttered in his voice.

There was a throbbing in my shoulder and an aching in the back of my head, and there was a voice that was calling my name from somewhere distant. They sounded like whispers on the wind, softly said by my ear as I groaned in response.

“Go away…” My throat was scratchy and raw, it felt like I had cottonmouth.

“Gotta get up, Princess.” The voice was definitely Baron and he sounded as worn out as I felt. “I don’t know the last time you ate and it took a long time to get that bullet out of you.”

It took a second to force my eyelids open. They felt heavy and almost glued shut, but I managed and twisted my neck to look at the bandages wrapped tightly around my shoulder before I turned to Baron. “You’ve got bags under your eyes.”

He snorted, “I’ve been up taking care of your ass. You’ve been nearly unconscious for over 24 hours.”

“Nearly?” With one arm, I forced myself up to a sitting position and pushed myself against the headboard.

“Yeah, the doc had gotten the bullet out of your shoulder, but he had you on some pretty heavy medication and… Well, every time Aleister came to check on you told him to get away from you.” My expression must’ve been a dead give away for the shock I was feeling because Baron pushed on. “He tried to touch you once and you almost started crying.”

I hummed, closing my eyes again and resting my head back against the frame. “I guess I shouldn’t be shocked.”

“Why?”

Fear is a very powerful drug and my trust in him took a dip after the kidnapping incident. My subconscious probably identified him as someone willing to let me die to maintain his wealth and power. What’s one life for what he’s accumulated?

“You think someone that was physically abused for a good portion of their life can trust people easily?” I cleared my throat and let out a harsh, dry cough in the process. Baron handed me water to soothe the strain before I finished my explanation. “I didn’t exactly take it well when he acted like he didn’t give a shit if I got shot.”

All Baron did was nod, he was there after all. I had seen his reaction to Aleister’s comment with my own eyes, so I knew that he understood where I was coming from.

“Listen,” he said softly after a beat or two of silence, “there was something you kept repeating in your sleep. Something about a chair and that you wouldn’t be in this situation. What was that about?” The sharp inhale I took informed Baron that his words caused a spike of anxiety. “Aleister didn’t… he didn’t say something about your dad and use it against you, did he?”

“ _ Aleister _ ?” I shrieked incredulously. “No, god, Pete did it. Pete,” I sighed heavily, “He said that if my dad had hit me with the chair instead of my mom that I wouldn’t have to deal with all of this.” I waved my hand around in the air gesturing to everything around me and purposely avoiding eye contact with Baron now.

I heard Baron shift in the seat next to the bed, long limbs stretching out to kick his feet up on the edge of it. “Did that bother you, Princess?”

“All talk to do with my sperm donor bothers me, but what bothered me the most was that… was that I  _ agreed _ with him.” I picked at a loose string from my comforter before looking up at Baron with a smile that didn’t reach my eyes in the slightest. “I would have never met Adam Cole, so Aleister wouldn’t have had to save me. Therefore, no one would have the extra headache.”

“But, you’d be dead.”

“Doesn’t seem like such a high price to pay when I’ve already caused this much trouble.” This was no longer self-deprecation, just good old-fashioned acceptance of the situation - of what could have been, maybe even should have been.

“You shouldn’t talk like that, Little Bird.”

Aleister’s voice came from within the hallway, right outside my doorway. He was just standing there with his hands shoved into his pockets as he gazed at myself and Baron with lazy eyes. His body language oozed ‘relaxed’ and something in my chest throbbed in sync with my shoulder.

“It’s the truth, Aleister.” I averted my eyes from him, still not wanting to look or think about the events from the warehouse. Thankfully, there was a third individual to distract you.

“How’re you feeling, poppet? Is your shoulder holding up alright?” Marty appeared, pushing past Aleister like he wasn’t even there, and gently held my ankle from his spot at the foot of the bed, giving it a soft squeeze. “Gave us a scare.”

“I’ve been better, that’s for sure. My shoulder’s alright and my arm’s still attached so that’s a plus.” I tried for a smile and although I knew it’d come off weak, it seemed to ease Marty’s worrying even if it was just a bit. Then, I heard a soft mewl from the duffel bag he had slung over his shoulder. “What was that?”

Marty was grinning from ear to ear as he stuck his hand in the already half unzipped bag. “I’ve got someone who has missed the hell out of you, love.”

Looking as grumpy as ever, my obsidian black cat, Josef was pulled out from the bag and I started to cry. “Oh, my god, Josef!” He started to meow and rub himself up against my face and neck, purring loudly in the process. “I missed you so, so much.” By the time I looked up from Josef to thank Marty, I noticed that Aleister had disappeared in the middle of my reunion. “Are you not talking to Aleister, Marty?”

Marty tucked his hands into his pockets after tucking away the bag. He raised an eyebrow and his lips held a smirk. “Why do ya say that?”

Baron snorted, “The way you breezed past him like he didn’t even exist may have let her know, Scurll.”

He shrugged and watched me play with Josef a little while longer to give himself time to think before he replied. “We had a long talk about what we should do with you.”

“That doesn’t sound ominous at all,” I deadpanned.

“No, no. Listen to me… You being abducted never should have happened. You aren’t part of this business, you shouldn’t have to fight to stay alive!” Marty’s voice was raised and he sounded almost frantic. I was honestly shocked that he felt so strongly about my involvement in all of this. I had assumed he’d be indifferent. “You should be living a  _ normal _ life. Now, all Aleister is doing is keeping you in a birdcage, just like Adam did! You could have  _ died _ , do you understand?”

When I sat up further against the bed frame, Josef jumped off of my lap and darted out of the room. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about that exact thing. The only difference was that Aleister’s ‘birdcage’ was much larger for me to walk around in. I could go anywhere inside his house but when it came to going outside I always felt like I needed to ask permission, and if I wanted to leave the premises I had to have at least two people with me at all times. It was a limited way of living, but I had gotten used to it. Nearly forgetting what my freedom and independence were like before all of this.

“I was angry with the way the boss changed tactics in the plan, but what do you expect her to do now?” Baron spoke up when all I could answer Marty with was silence. “Adam isn’t going to come near her. I’m sure we extinguished that annoyance, but now we have Dunne to worry about. Not to mention those crazies from Sanity. Do you expect Black to let her fend for herself when they can still use her against us?”

Marty scrubbed a hand over his face, looking like he was deliberating over Baron’s words as he bored a hole into the floor. “I don’t know,” he started, “But Aleister needs to treat her as part of this team - this family, if he wants to keep her around.” He looked back up at Baron when he said the part about family, and it made my heart seize in my chest for a second. “But it needs to be her choice to stay here or not. She’s a human being, not a pet.”

“You’re correct.” Aleister was back, standing in the doorway again but this time he held Josef in his arms. The black cat oddly docile and purring so loud that I could hear it from my place in bed. “She’s a human being, and I’m more than willing to let her choose what she wants to do with her own life in its current situation.”

Aleister’s eyes never left me, even as his fingers rubbed themselves through my cat’s fur. It was almost as if any willing person that came into contact with the man became submissive.

It took a minute for me to realize that there were now three sets of eyes on me. I began to fidget, my fingers picking and twisting the fabric of my bedsheets. How the hell was I supposed to respond? Was he asking me this instant? I was still tired, still hungry! Too much to process anything life-changing in that exact moment.

“Gentlemen, maybe you could give us a minute?”

Aleister’s request made me tense, and both Marty and Baron seemed reluctant to leave my side, especially after both men probably witnessed my desperate demands for Aleister not to touch me.

“I’ll be ok, listen to your boss before he makes you regret it.” It was said jokingly and, thankfully, Aleister let out a bit of a chuckle himself, but the guys still seemed tense themselves as they left the room and shut the door behind them. “What did you want to talk about?”

Aleister put Josef on the ground before approaching the seat Baron had been previously sat in. When he settled he seemed to be studying my face, his eyes flickered to different parts and corners of my face before settling on my bandaged shoulder. It was then that his eyes grew dark.

“I wanted to apologize for what happened, for how I handled the situation. I saw the look in your eyes the moment I said those awful words, and I wanted to take them back immediately.” I blinked at him, feeling little to no sympathy for how ‘ _ upset _ ’ he may be for the way I had looked at him at that moment. He was the one that came out unscathed. “I never wanted you to be in the middle of this war. I never wanted you hurt.”

My jaw hurt. I was grinding my teeth as I looked at him. I was angry - all of the sadness and the hurt and the betrayal wrapped themselves into one large mass that it bubbles over into nothing but seething anger.

“What does it mean to you?”

Aleister tilted his head, not quite understanding what I was asking. “Pardon?”

Through clenched teeth, I elaborated. “My  _ life _ , Aleister Black. For you to wager it so easily, what does it mean to you?”

In his eyes, I could see the second he let his frantic feelings spillover. It was unlike anything I had ever been given from him before and I took it kindly.

“Your life means  _ so much _ , liefje, please believe me.” 

Aleister reached out for my hand hesitantly and stopped just shy of it like he had remembered what happened the last time he tried to touch me. Nevertheless, I wrapped his hand in mine and held tight, never letting my eyes leave his.

“I understand. Somewhere in the rational part of my brain, I understand that you had to throw my life into Pete’s little game because of who you are, but at that moment Aleister… at that moment all I wanted was for you to look at me and tell me you were there to save me.” For the first time, Aleister broke eye contact and instead, pressed his forehead against my hand that was held in his and squeezed tighter. “Seeing you so deadly calm– part of me was fine with dying. So, if my life means something to you I want to know what, Aleister.”

I let him take his time. I let him keep his forehead pressed against the back of my hand, I let him drag his hand over my forearm like he was trying to make sure I was still there, I let him press his lips to my knuckles as he looked up at me with a something in his eyes that I had never seen in them before:  **Fear** .

“I was terrified the entire time.” Aleister’s voice was quiet as he spoke. “I may have looked angry or maybe even calm, but I was vibrating in my skin to get you back. Each time you were threatened I felt as if I wanted to vomit, I had never felt that way before when it came to negotiations this serious.” I had never seen Aleister talk so desperately before. It was like I was looking at an entirely different individual, like the man I had been living previously with was but an illusion. “If I had shown what I was truly feeling… there was a chance Pete would have killed you for the sheer entertainment of my reaction. I couldn’t give him that option, so I pretended that your loss didn’t matter. But I  _ swear _ to you, from the bottom of what’s left of this heart of mine, your life is irreplaceable to me.”

My heart was hammering against my chest so hard that it physically hurt me. The gritting of my teeth was no longer for expressing my anger, but instead, it was to help fight back to tears that brimmed my eyes. I didn’t want to fucking cry just because Aleister poured out this… oddly vulnerable side to him that I had no possible idea even existed until this moment.

“Who the hell said you could bear your soul like that, you emotionally manipulative piece of shit.” I sniffed and rubbed my eyes with the heel of my palm. “You could have just said ‘ _ no I care about your life, I just had to be the big boss for the fight _ ’, I would have accepted that!”

“No, you wouldn’t have.”

“Shut up!”

“Liefje, look at me. Stop rubbing your eyes.” He sounded significantly closer to me and when I dropped my hand from my eye, I realized he was mere inches from my face now. “I’m sorry. I already cared for you, but this entire situation showed me that I didn’t know just how much. If you stay by my side I will continue to work toward your forgiveness. Is that ok?”

I nodded, unable to look away even though my eyes were darting back and forth from his steely blue ones to his lips.

“On one condition.”

“Whatever you’d like.”

With one of my hands still tied up in his, I lifted the other to frame the side of his face. My fingertips gently pressed into the hairs of his beard as I looked into his eyes and smiled softly.

“Kiss me.”

* * *

“It seems that we all got too involved.” Marty sighed while dangling a stick that held a feather at the end of it for Josef. “Probably should have extended the statement onto the two of us.”

Baron carried out a bowl of ramen on a tray that held a glass of water and juice. “Don’t ya think that’s a little late, ya dumbass?” He passed his friend and began to make his way back to the bedroom, but before he could make it down the hallway Aleister came out of the room with a new air about him. “What’s that creepy smile for, boss man?”

The words snapped Aleister out of his daze and he settled back into a look that he hoped portrayed indifference. “Nothing, Corbin. Is that for her?”

The lone wolf nodded and made note of the slick redness of Aleister’s lips before he smirked himself. “I assume the two of you made up then?”

Without a word, Aleister walked away from Baron. His lack of an answer was enough to know that is exactly what had occurred. He pushed the already half-open door and was met with a blushing princess whose legs were out from under the blankets and hanging over the side of the bed. Her hand was covering her lips and she didn’t seem to notice that he was even there.

“I’ve brought you some food, Princess.”

* * *

The house was different now. Aleister was by my side at every turn. He would cut his meetings short while I was recovering so that he could check on me sooner. If the meeting was particularly important he would send someone named Ruby over to keep me company, and then when I was able to walk around without a bandage wrapped around me, Aleister started taking me with him to his meetings. I was allowed out of the house more, but I wasn’t allowed to be on my own and I understood why.

Yet, Marty started to get more and more agitated by my lack of freedom. Every chance that he found himself alone with Aleister I would hear sharp hushed tones coming from Aleister’s office and after a few long minutes, Marty would emerge with his feathers ruffled and a bit of a grimace on his face. Baron, sadly, hadn’t been around in a while. He’d have his group of guys to look over his jobs had to do with the outskirts of the city and sometimes it took weeks until Marty or even Aleister would see him again. But, I would get small messages from him on a secured phone he’d given me to keep in contact with everyone.

Marty came over often, especially when Aleister was out and usually he’d behave and try to be civil although lately, it was rocky, this time something was different. I’d just put the tea kettle on the stove for both me and Marty when Aleister came through the kitchen to greet us.

“How’d the meeting go?”

“Very well,” Aleister turned to Marty and grinned. “That shipment we wanted will be in earlier than expected. They were generous and agreed to give us double for the previous mess.”

Marty snorted, “You mean you had someone beat the generosity out of them.”

“More or less.” Aleister walked over and kissed my temple, a gesture that had me digging my fingers into the countertop when he pulled away. “And what are you up to?”

“Other than making the Brit and I tea?” I flashed him a smile when he nodded. “Well, I was thinking about going out for some groceries, maybe?”

Aleister paused, looking up from undoing his cufflinks to make eye contact. “At this hour?”

I nodded. I wanted to make dinner for everyone. I wanted to cook and thank every individual that helped save me from Dunne and his men, whether or not their motive was to have stronger alliances with Aleister.

I gestured at Marty, “Marty could go with me if he’s up for it.”

“No.” He folded his sleeves up to his elbows and then rolled his shoulders back. “I won’t risk it.”

“Ok,” was all I could muster. I turned back to the kettle and willed it to whistle so that I could make the tea and head back to my room.

I could feel his gaze on my back. He was watching every slight movement I made to evaluate what I was feeling from his refusal. There was the whine of a chair that I knew had to have been from Marty, and then the careful steps of dress shoes across the tile.

“If I could speak to you in private?” Marty’s voice was low and I didn’t turn around to see the more than likely icy expression he held.

“Repetition starts to grow old on a person, Scurll.” Aleister seemed to already know exactly what Marty wanted to talk about, but the sounds of paired footsteps retreating from the kitchen meant that he was still abiding by Marty’s wishes to speak.

The whistle of the kettle came soon after and I found myself quickly pouring tea for both Marty and Aleister as an excuse to possibly eavesdrop on the private conversation. The trick wasn’t making the tea, it was trying desperately not to spill it or burn myself and walk it across the house to Aleister’s office. Thankfully, the door was open and the entrance to the now-not-so-secret room I had previously stumbled upon was still open and I heard Marty talking.

“You’re making her compliant. It’s like you’ve made this  _ The Taming of the Shrew _ .”

“I’m not making her anything. Don’t compare our situation to a play.”

Marty scoffed, “Were you deaf to the same conversation I just witnessed? All you had to do was utter the word ‘no’ and she obeyed like it was  _ nothing _ . When have you ever known that woman to agree so easily with anyone?”

Not that I didn’t understand his concern, because truly I did, but the only reason for my ‘ _ compliance _ ’ was because I was afraid. Despite my stubbornness and sharp attitude, I was still a human being and I didn’t take well to being kidnapped or shot for funsies. If Marty was going to have this conversation with Aleister about  _ me _ then I deserved to be present.

“What’s going on, Marty?” I stepped through the opening with both cups of tea held in my hands and a smile on my lips.

Marty backed up from Aleister. “Nothing, love. Just voicing a concern is all.” He checked his watch and sighed. “I best be going.”

“But your tea,” I held a cup out to him. “Don’t waste it.”

“You drink it. I’ll come by some other time to have a cup with you.” Marty smiled and patted my shoulder gently before leaving.

Aleister took his cup from me and held it at his lips. “How much of that did you hear?”

I took a sip, delighted at the warmth that immediately spread through my body. Marty was missing out. “Very little.”

He settled down into the couch and sighed, leaving enough room between himself and the arm of the chair for me to sit down next to him. There was a faraway look in his eyes and I wondered if he’d been considering that my obedience to his wishes was forced upon me.

“So the two of you are still disagreeing about things.”

“I wouldn’t say disagreeing. He’s trying to bring something to my attention, I suppose.”

I looked at him through my peripheral. “And it has to do with me.”

Aleister hummed. “I’m afraid so.” Taking a long sip of his tea, he sighed for the second time in the last five minutes but this time he did it with a smile. “It’s nothing to worry about. You just mean a lot to him.”

I took his word for it. Marty was trying to look out for me and make sure I wasn’t losing myself because I was getting too caught up in the bullshit. He was just worried. Aleister was reassured and that seemed to be it.

* * *

A few days later, Aleister — after probably feeling bad that he didn’t let me go out shopping — picked up all of the things I wanted to grab during my trip to the grocery store. It was going to be perfect. I would cook and invite everyone that had stuck out their necks for both me and Aleister. I wanted something to go right one. fucking. time. But that’s not how life worked.

Dinner itself? Lovely.  _ Delicious _ . Dessert? Well, that started fine…

Aleister was at the head of the table, to his immediate left was Baron then Marty, and to his right was me, Roman, Seth, and then Dean. Aleister grumbled something about Balor and his (Girlfriend? Wife? Queen?) partner not being able to show up on such short notice. I could’ve sworn I heard someone yell through the phone “ _ Bodies, Black! The poor bastards didn’t stand a damn chance against her. _ ” So I assumed they were busy.

Everyone was already digging into the desserts I had laid out and were participating in a discussion about things that I couldn’t fully wrap my brain around. The biggest threat, as far as I was concerned, had been dealt with. I wasn’t exactly interested in the rest of the group’s dealings and branch families – I thought it best to keep my nose out of things for the time being. My shoulder still aches when I turn it a certain way.

“Liefje, would you mind making coffee and tea for the table?”

His request pulled me out of my thoughts and I blinked at him a few times to process what he had just asked of me. When I nodded, he smirked and pulled my knuckles to his lips for a brief kiss before I stood up and headed for the kitchen. With the kitchen being only a short distance from the dining room table, I could still hear the low conversations of the guests. The echoing against the walls of Aleister’s minimally decorated house helped for the words to carry over as well.

“Has she become your little housewife, Black?” Dean joked and I could practically feel the awkward silence that settled over the table.

“Dean…” Roman grumbled. “The hell do you think you’re asking him?”

Roman or Seth had probably kicked him under the table too because there was an audible sound of protest from his gravelly tone. “My bad, it was just a joke.”

Aleister, however, did not find it even slightly funny because his response was dry and to the point. “She’s not my housewife.”

“This is fuckin’ delectable, Princess.” Baron being the angel that he is, tried to change the subject and bring it back to the actual food. “Thanks for everything.”

A small chorus of ‘thank you’s’ called out to me from my place in the kitchen and I blushed slightly, loving being appreciated.

The silence stretched after that, everyone was waiting for me to bring in the hot beverages to wash down the richness of the desserts. Thankfully, both the tea and coffee brewed fairly quickly and I was able to give each person the drink they desired. Although, Seth seemed shocked that I knew how he took his coffee. Roman spoke softly, something along the lines of “ _ she’s just good at stuff like this _ ” when the truth was that Roman doesn’t know how to shut up about his brother’s and lets bits and pieces of information about them slip. It was an odd habit of his when he would come to visit me when I was stuck at Adam’s place. I always swore that it was his way of keeping me distracted from the rest of whatever Adam was up to.

“I’ve got a question,” Marty spoke up while looking down at the leftover pieces of his pie that he moved around on his plate and it startled me out of my blushing bliss.

Baron groaned, “Here we go.”

“What is going on with the two of you then?” He tapped the metal of his fork against the rim of the plate and directed his attention to Aleister who was already calmly watching him. “You’ve already kissed, more than once I might add, so have you discussed it with our little princess here? Are you dating? Are you fucking? Because it sure seems that you’re pussyfooting around the entire thing.”

I gripped the cup in my hand so tightly that I could probably break it, but I was too fixated on the words that were spewing out of Marty’s mouth that I didn’t care. I bit at the skin of my lip while my eyes flickered between both men with Baron cautiously watching me from between the two of them. He shook his head like he knew this was bound to have happened. I chanced a look at the Shield brothers and Dean looked like he was itching for a fight to break out while Roman stared down the situation, waiting for a chance to intervene if need be, and Seth was nonchalantly lifting his coffee cup to his lips and sighing in what I assumed was contentedness at its taste.

Marty only raised his voice when Aleister neglected to provide an answer. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: you’re holding her  _ captive _ . If you’re so worried about your enemies getting to her then take care of it. I know you have people on the inside that can change her identity, give her a new name, a new life, and she will  _ never _ have to deal with this bullshit anymore!”

Aleister took a slow taste of his tea and then set it down gently. “First of all, what I label our relationship has nothing to do with you, Marty. Second, if it was that easy for me to turn her into a brand new person do you honestly think I wouldn’t have already done it by now?”

“If I’m honest, Aleister, no. I don’t think you would have.” Marty was shaking his head--he was shaking all over. It was like he was vibrating with adrenaline and at any minute he would just explode, sending his nervous energy out into the universe. “She’s different, she isn’t herself and I’m sure Roman or Baron can attest to that!” Aleister’s eyes flickered over to Roman for the briefest of moments. “She has become timid and malleable under your hands, Aleister. You can’t deny that!”

“Timid?  _ Malleable _ ?” I felt the immediate shift in attention when I spoke up. My eyes were focused on Marty and he didn’t look the least bit confused as to why I looked and felt so angry. He almost expected it. “Are you going to let me speak for myself or am I much too timid for that? You don’t get to treat me like I’m some damsel that needs saving all of the time.”

I felt almost desperate to defend myself. The anger in me boiled to the surface and I had an urge to extinguish the flame of resentment that burned under Marty for Aleister’s sake. Marty only ever saw bits and pieces of who I was around Aleister, he couldn’t see who he was when it’s just the two of us together.

“He’s right,” Aleister turned to look at me with the same expression he had when I was a hostage; cold and unyielding. “I’ve been keeping you locked in a cage for months now, you’ve known little more than the inside of a house or warehouse. Who’s to say that the limited environment hasn’t manipulated your feelings for me.”

My skin grew cold, it was like the floor had fallen out from under me. My ears were ringing and my eyes stung, but I couldn’t move. In a blink of an eye, he was able to invalidate everything that I felt for him simply because of another’s scrutiny.

“What are you saying?”

He leaned forward and brushed back pieces of my hair that fell over my cheek. “I’m saying that this relationship between us started in a complicated manner. Marty is insinuating that you’ve unconsciously come to rely on my protection and power to keep yourself safe and that I’ve cornered you into having feelings for me.” Aleister took out his phone and began to type out something quickly before sending it out and focusing his attention back on me. “Surely you’ve come to realize I’m not a good person, Little Bird?”

I was having a hard time processing what he was trying to tell me. All of it sounded like he was incriminating himself, blaming himself for the life I found myself living. Adam Cole was the individual to drag me into all of this, and yes, Aleister did keep me from living a normal life, but what was normal when you were hiding from factions of the mafia?

“Aleister, you’re a good person who protected me from Adam.” I looked around the table at the people I had begun to consider my friends. “All of you saved me from Dunne. Just because the law says you aren’t good people doesn’t mean—,”

“Victims of the formal definition of Stockholm syndrome develop ‘ _ positive feelings toward their captors and sympathy for their causes and goals and negative feelings toward the police or authorities _ ’.” Marty was reading straight from his phone and his words dangled heavily over the table.

“So that’s it then.” I swallowed, shaking my head at Marty. “For someone who wants me to have autonomy, you like to tell me how I’m feeling.” Stockholm syndrome. Marty was chalking up my affection to a fucking  _ illness _ .

“Until I can get all of the necessary documents in order, I’m sure one of the Shield boys would be willing to possibly keep an eye on you.” When I didn’t answer, Aleister tipped my head up with his index finger underneath my chin and I was met with a crestfallen smile. “I’ll provide you with the best life I possibly can, liefje.”

I spoke through clenched teeth. “I thought you wanted to earn my forgiveness with me by your side.”

His eyes grew slightly wider, but his smile only became more despondent. It was like he expected that of me. Taking a deep breath, I wrapped my fingers around his wrist and brought his hand down and away from my chin.

“It’s for your own good,” he muttered.

“I understand. Thank you for your generosity, Mr. Black.” I stood up from the table and carefully backed away from it. Although light, my footsteps were causing tremors through the floorboards, like the very ground felt the heaviness of my emotions. “Would it be alright if I stayed with one of you?” I looked over at the Shield boys, “Just until my affairs are dealt with.”

Roman cleared his throat, “uh, yeah, of course. You can stay-”

“You can stay with me.” Seth interrupted Roman, who probably was about to offer his place. Seth looked at me differently than the others, like I wasn’t someone to be coddled and would allow me to be alone if needed. “I’ve got Queenie coming in and out of my place, I’m sure she’d love to see you again.”

“Thanks, Seth. I appreciate it.” The smile I gave him didn’t exactly meet my eyes, but it tried it’s best to be believable.

I turned on my heels, excusing myself from the table to go pack up my things, but before I could leave the room I heard Aleister let out a steady breath.

“It’s for the best.”

I looked over my shoulder, blinked at him, and asked, “For whom?”


	6. “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned”

I tapped the end of my cigarette on the wooden porch railing of Seth’s house before taking another long drag. I had been staying at his place for a month now, any contact with Aleister was done through Seth alone, per my request and everything had been going smoothly up until earlier this morning.

_ “You’ve been getting better, you know. Not as much flinching.” _

_ Sweat dripped off of my forehead and beaded on my upper lip. My hands were taped up, knuckles bruised, a little dry, and almost ready to crack. Seth had protested against me practicing barehanded, but I had insisted. _

_ “Baron helped me figure out how to throw a real punch. He’d never really spar with me though, so I appreciate you taking a chance.” _

_ Seth tossed me a water and I drank it greedily. Nothing about this was easy, no matter how much Seth said that I’d improved. My heart still seized in my chest every time his fist came at me, but how I acted was miles apart from where I had begun with Baron. _

_ He patted the mat that laid out over the grass in his backyard and sighed happily. “Your takedowns are getting so much smoother, too. I know you’re still scared and I’d love for you to get more comfortable with hand-to-hand combat, but I’m serious. You’re doing so well.” _

_ “Ugh, shut up. Don’t praise me so much, it’s weird.” I joked and shoved halfheartedly at his shoulder. “Between these training sessions every day and teaching me how to shoot, I’ll end up being one of you in no time.” _

_ He snorted and rolled his neck from side to side before popping back up onto his feet. _

_ “Alright then,” he said, “show me some strike combos and toss in some kicks. Make those knuckles bleed, sugar snap.” _

_ The nickname startled a laugh out of me as I stood up to face him. “Sugar snap?! Am I a vegetable now, Rollins?” _

_ “Figured I stop callin’ ya, ‘Little Bird’.” Seth shrugged, “Seemed to make you uncomfortable. If you can pin me, I’ll call you something non-food related.” _

_ I put my arms up with a cocky smirk on my face. “Ok, let’s go.” _

_ A few minutes into the sparring, I noticed that Seth had been pulling his punches even when I would successfully block them. He was the only one wearing gloves — he’d insisted, saying something about not wanting to trigger me if he accidentally connected too hard — so he shouldn’t have been pulling anything when I’d gotten so good at defense. _

_ Just as I was about to pull back to say something, he caught me with an inside kick that caused me to buckle. _

_ “You got distracted!” He singsonged, a playful smile on his lips. _

_ Then, a noise came from the side of the house and every bit of unguarded friendliness disappeared from Seth’s face. He deftly yanked off his gloves, grabbed his gun that laid nearby, and pushed me behind him in a crouch. _

_ Unconsciously, I reached out for his hand. My fingers brushed against his for only a second before he secured his hand around mine. _

_ “Show yourself,” he called out calmly with his gun pointed at the area he was sure someone would walk out of. “I’ll only ask nicely once.” _

_ Slowly, Aleister stepped out with his hands out in the open and up as a sign of peace. _

_ “I didn’t mean to startle you. I knocked on the door, but I heard voices back here, so I decided to come and see.” _

_ Seth huffed, “You should have called, Black.” _

_ Once Seth clicked the gun’s safety back on and lowered it to his side, the two stood up and I stepped out next to Seth. There was no reason for Aleister to be here. Seth made it known to him at the beginning that I would rather not see the man if I could help it. I needed to wrap my head around certain things first. _

_ Aleister’s gaze was heavy. I could tell that he was observing the way my hands were wrapped up tightly, and how his eyes fell on the hand that was clutching Seth’s. _

_ “I should have,” he agreed and looked up at me then. “Your knuckles are bleeding.” _

_ His words were quiet, almost accusatory. The delivery made me feel as if I had betrayed him somehow. I couldn’t help but remember the night I was taken from his backyard; Aleister’s fist coming so close to my head without warning that it immediately caused a negative reaction. I had a feeling Aleister had either been watching us or had heard from someone else that Seth was helping me out. He was irritated. _

_ There was a nagging voice in the back of my mind that was telling me I had to explain myself, but an even louder one told me to defend Seth. “Seth is teaching me how to defend myself. I feel safe around him, but he’s also showing me how to feel safe in my skin.” _

_ Seth tightened his grip around my hand and when I allowed myself to look away from Aleister, it was apparent how hyper-aware of one another the two men truly were. I’d suspected a long time ago that Rollins wasn’t too keen on authority and that all he needed in his life were his brothers. His obvious dissatisfaction and disinterest in the way both Bálor and Black ran things made complete and utter sense. _

_ “Come on, man. Don’t turn this into a staring contest; just tell us why you came here.” _

_ Aleister nodded and stepped forward with a large sealed envelope. He handed it directly to me with a soft smile. _

_ “I hope this fixes everything, liefje.” He said. _

_ “These are it then?” Taking the envelope in hand I grasped it tightly and looked at him. “We’re done?” _

_ He hummed, looking between me and Seth once more before turning around to leave and muttering, “I wonder…” _

_ I didn’t know what that meant. I didn’t fully understand if he was giving me the choice to leave everything behind or if he expected me to stay. If I did maybe he was wondering what, or whom, I’d be staying for. _

_ When I was sure that Aleister had left, I exhaled so sharply that I felt a sort of prolonged tightness in my chest. I loosened my hand in Seth’s, not looking away from the spot the kingpin stood, even as the man next to me turned my body to face him. _

_ “Look at me.” His voice sounded further away. “Come on, you’re shaking.” After blinking a few times, I looked back at Seth with wide eyes. “Ah, there you are, bright eyes.” _

_ He was smiling and looking over my knuckles, both my hands in his. Bright eyes… that nickname sounded better than sugar snap, I’d give him that. _

_ “Sorry, I-I don’t know why I’m shaking. I’m not- I don’t feel scared.” _

_ “Adrenaline. It could be because you’re mad at him or that you were nervous. The body is a funny thing.” _

_ I mulled over those words for a minute as he took the tape off from my hands. I could still feel the tremors under my skin and the harsh thuds of my heart against my chest. My breathing had become shallow when he was here. I was anxious, but I was also incredibly upset. _

_ “Do you think there’s something wrong with me?” _

_ Seth looked me in the eyes and said, “Like what?” _

_ The question didn’t even seem to catch him off guard, he patiently waited for me to answer. Almost as if he knew what I would ask. _

_ “Do you think what Marty said that time is true?” _

_ “I think you got used to the roughness and guns always being pointed at you. I think you fell in love with a man that was more mystery than reality; a man whose self-loathing is at a high when it comes to involving people he loves in this line of work.” _

_ There was wind, ya know? A wind that blew some dust up into my eyes because they suddenly burned and teared up to get it out. Honest. _

_ “You gonna cry now?” Seth chuckled and I weakly shoved him away from me. _

_ “Asshole.” _

I had looked at the envelope once I’d been alone in the room Seth had let me occupy. All of this was supposed to be temporary and of course, I knew that, but that didn’t mean that I wanted to accept any of it. The documents made it feel way more real than I had expected it to; a new birth certificate with an unknown name, a new passport, social security card, and a blank check with Aleister’s signature at the bottom of it. There was a sticky note attached to it that said: _Money is of no concern - put whatever you feel is necessary for what you’ve had to deal with. – Aleister x_

The documents had been left strewn on the bed in my room and now I was out here smoking. Like a love scorned idiot. I still took a longer drag than necessary.

“Those things will kill you before you know it.”

Seth made his footsteps deliberately loud so as not to startle me. He had been gone most of the day and when he leaned against the support beam of his porch he looked tired. His walk was a little stiff and there was a weird shadow on his face that I couldn’t quite make out until he got closer.

“I know,” I blew out the smoke slowly and then snubbed it out. “I’ve started a nasty, nervous habit.” In the dim luminescence of the porch light, I could see slight bruising around Seth’s right eye. “Who beat your ass?”

He snorted, pushing his frizzy hair out of his face to give me a better look as I reached out my hands to inspect him.

“I pissed off Queenie,” he shrugged his shoulders like it wasn’t a big deal, but it was easy to see he was a little hurt by it. “Made a few less than polite comments about her relationship with Bálor and she punched me.”

I moved his face gently in the light to get a better look at the bruising. He had a cut that was about half an inch in length on his cheekbone and that’s where most of the discoloration seemed to be happening.

“Was she wearing a ring?”

“A fat ass engagement ring, yeah.”

I sucked air through my teeth, knowing the conversation probably weighed heavily on the topic of the ring. Spending a month with Rollins had made it extremely obvious how he felt about the woman known as the  _ Demon Queen _ . She was brilliant and lethal in her work, and incredibly beautiful to boot. She and Seth were the best of friends, but where he had a special place for her, she held Finn Bálor instead.

The announcement of their engagement probably threw his emotions for a loop and he said something he shouldn’t have. Seth, despite his calm disposition when it came to business, didn’t hold up the same when it came to matters of the heart. Queenie, especially.

“I made dinner. It’s cold by now with how late it is, but I put it on a plate for you and wrapped it up. Why don’t you heat it up and I’ll go get the first aid kit to clean you up a bit?”

Seth nodded, and once we got inside the house I took note of the way he looked more like a kicked puppy with his messy hair sticking out in places and the obvious droop in his posture.

“I’ll make you a nice Lil espresso afterward, too. That sound good?”

He turned around with a slight glimmer of appreciation in his eyes before almost cautiously coming in for a hug. “You’re the best. Can I keep you around? I like having you here.”

“Oof, be still my heart.” I joked, patting his back twice before letting go. “You go eat and I’ll get that kit.”

With a bit of happiness back into his step, he left for the kitchen. While retrieving the kit, I chewed my lip in thought. There wasn’t any reason for me to get a new identity anymore, was there? Seth hadn’t let me spend the past month twiddling my fingers waiting around for Aleister to get his foot out of his ass, I’d been  _ training _ , my fucking bloody and bruised knuckles were proof of that. Apart from Seth helping me out, Queenie would come by every so often to help me with my combat skills and how to defend myself if I ever found myself in another dangerous situation. I was nowhere near her or Seth’s level, but I was also an excellent bluffer and had already proved that I had a sharp tongue. I could be useful.

I didn’t need a new identity. Marty had tried to contact me several times and so had Baron, but I kept communications with them to a minimum. In the words of Aleister Black, ‘ _ it’s for the best.’ _

While Seth ate and watched television, I made sure to clean up the cut on his face. It wasn’t anything bad, the bruising made it looked worse than it truly was, but I wanted to make sure it was taken care of properly.

“You look lost in thought,” Seth said around a mouthful of food. “What’s goin’ on in that noggin of yours?”

I grunted, “Low key still wondering if Marty was right about the whole Stockholm Syndrome thing. I’m angrier than I had originally anticipated.”

He waited until I secured the bandage over the cut before asking another question.

“Angry at the possibility of Marty being right or the fact that he belittled your feelings?”

Looking down at the kit as I gingerly put each loose item in the proper places, I processed his question carefully. “That he belittled my feelings. Taking Aleister out of the equation, I know in my bones that I care about every single one of you. No one has deliberately put me in a dangerous situation. I can’t chalk that up to my brain making me agree with you to survive.”

Seth hummed and mulled over my words for a minute. “Are you scared of me?”

“Scared of you?” I shook my head, “No.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t think you would hurt me.”

He didn’t seem pleased with my answer if the way his nose scrunched up meant anything. “That’s naive. I’d hurt anyone if the money was right.”

Without hesitation, I asked, “Even that Killer Queen you seem to love so much?”

“She’d kill me first. Trained killer versus a man that knows how to fight and get shit done? I’m way outta my league there.”

The smile on my face was a little wider than I had wanted it to be; kinda like I was tickled by the idea of Queenie having a massive upper hand on someone larger than her.

“Why’d you ask me if I was scared of you?”

“Just like you said, your brain would make you do anything to help you survive. Agree with us, sympathize with us or our cause, whatever was necessary to ensure your survival.” Seth finished up his food and took a large gulp of the water that I had sat next to him. After he finished, he reached out and smoothed my hair down with his hand. “You’re not scared of a gun being pointed at you. You were kidnapped, shot in the arm, and you still had the fucking gall to sass the man that shot you. A hardass since the beginning, bright eyes!”

That startled a laugh out of me. He was right, I remember the burn and how much it hurt being shot, but despite that, I still practically told Dunne to shove it. “I remember telling him to aim for the head if he was trying to kill me!”

“Ya see? Not that it’s a good thing, but you’d rather be dead than be used as a bargaining chip.” Seth stopped for a minute and narrowed his eyes. “I’m trying to make a point here about how you don’t have Stockholm Syndrome, but I’m coming to the realization that you really need to value yourself more.”

My lips trembled to stifle another laugh. I was grinning because it was morbidly funny and obviously true, but his expression was hilarious. “I’m pretty self-deprecating, Rollins. Are you just now getting that?”

“Holy shit,” he chuckled, “I guess I am.” He yanked at the end of my hair after that. “Love yourself more, you idiot.”

* * *

A half-hour after his encounter at Rollins’ house, Aleister had returned home with anger radiating off of him. The entire reason why he had sent her away was so that she could remove herself from all of the violence that happened to befall his household and surroundings. He hadn’t expected to stumble upon her and Seth throwing punches at one another.

Then he saw her clinging onto him. Both of them holding each other’s hands so tightly that it put things in his head that he didn’t want to think about.

Marty was there in his kitchen sipping tea after having helped himself to Aleister’s stash and he didn’t exactly want him there.

“Someone’s angry,” Marty muttered over the rim of his teacup.

“I need a drink.”

“There’s tea.”

Aleister sighed heavily. “Something stronger, Scurll.”

Marty raised his eyebrow, “It’s not even noon yet. What exactly happened when you went over to Rollins’s place? Were they in the nude?” It was meant as a joke and Marty laughed, but Aleister clearly didn’t and that made Marty stop abruptly. “Oh my god, were they naked!?”

Baron came barrelling into the kitchen. “Who the hell was naked!?”

Aleister pressed his fingers into his temples and rubbed them slowly. “Will both of you shut up? No, they weren’t naked, but he was training her in hand to hand combat.”

“Oh,” Baron sighed in relief. “He’s just continuing what I was doing with her, boss man.”

“Her knuckles were bloody and Seth was wearing gloves but if he connected with her they would still hurt. This isn’t what I wanted for her, I got selfish and now it’s like she’s stuck!”

Marty shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “I know I already apologized for my previous outbursts, but you know I was keeping her best interests in mind. I hadn’t thought she’d deliberately keep herself in the fold, Aleister.”

“If you were right – if you  _ are _ right, then we need to make sure she leaves Rollins’s place. I fear she’s found the same comfort in him that she found in me.”

“What makes you say that?” Baron crossed his arms over his chest and cocked his head to the side, it was obvious that he wasn’t quite following what Aleister was trying to say.

Aleister took a deep breath in and aired out his worries. “When I brought her here she clung to me like a lifeline. When I went over there I watched them for a bit and it seems that she possibly is doing the same with Rollins. When I showed myself she immediately grabbed onto Seth’s hand and refused to let go. He let her too - I could see the way his muscles shifted in his forearm when he held her hand tighter.”

While Aleister explained himself, Baron and Marty exchanged knowing glances.

Marty stood up, walked over to Aleister, and wrapped his arm around his shoulders. “Here’s what we’re going to do. Baron and I are going to head over there, ok? Drop-in for a little visit and see what information we can pull together. We may even be able to get her to leave. Sound good?”

“I– uh, yes. Yes, alright, that sounds good.”

“Good!” Marty grabbed his tea and ushered Baron out of the kitchen along with him. “We’ll see you later, boss!”

* * *

The pair had waited until later in the day to head over for their visit. They bickered about how inconvenient and suspicious it would be for them to head over to Seth’s immediately after Black had been there. Their decision to wait, however, made them press their visit back until the end of the day.

“It’s evening,” Marty glanced over at Baron in the passenger seat of his car, “and we are about to barge in on two individuals who, at this point, would probably be more than willing to maim the both of us.”

“Princess wouldn’t do that to us.” Baron had the passenger seat laid back and his left hand planted under his head. “Seth, on the other hand… that’s another story.”

Marty let out a guttural groan. “Sure she wouldn’t.” He was more than skeptical - not exactly sure how she and Seth would react to  _ him _ .

* * *

The knock on the door was unexpected and slightly suspicious.

Seth and I came out of our rooms glancing at one another – he already had his gun drawn and at the ready.

“You expecting anyone, bright eyes?” He asked while slowly advancing towards the door.

“No one that I care about enough not to shoot.”

When we got to the door, Seth kept me behind him and called out.

“Who is it?” His sounded more like a demand of information laced with a warning rather than a question.

“Don’t kill us, Rollins!” Baron responded.

I snickered at the small bit of alarm in his voice and winked at Seth before I answered our guest.

“So it’s okay if I do, right?”

I threw open the door with Seth’s gun still trained on the now open space of the porch.

“Mate, what–”

“Hope you don’t think you can just come here to take our girl back to Black.”

Marty looked a considerable amount more petrified than Baron – Mister hardcore biker gang leader – with a gun pointed at them.

When they didn’t answer immediately Seth tried to kick the door closed, but Marty stuck his hand out to stop it.

“You’re really pushing your luck, Scurll.”

“Please hear us out,” Marty pleaded.

Baron sighed, “Wouldn’t look too good sending us back with a bullet hole of two, Rollins.”

“The fuck I care–”

“Seth!” I shouted, causing him to pause with a grunt. “The two of you get your asses in here and start talking. Maybe then I won’t let him send you back bleeding.”

They filed in cautiously after Seth dropped the barrel of the gun down to his side.

“Aleister was here earlier, so I know for damn sure that this isn’t a coincidence – spill.”

* * *

My cat, the  _ traitor _ , loved Marty a good amount and was circling his legs by the time he’d gotten around to sitting on the couch.

“Josef, you cute muffin, I’ve missed you!” Marty cooed and reached down to pet the top of his head. “Your fur is still as shiny as ever.”

“He likes to take baths with Seth now. He’s my cat and yet prefers every other man in my life.”

Marty narrowed his eyes at Seth, “Josef bathes with you? He hates water.”

“Maybe if you’re in it,” Seth retorted sharply.

“Ok, we’re not about to have a pissing contest over my cat, alright?” Baron snorted at my exasperation. “Aleister wants you to check up on me, why?”

Marty, with his hands still preoccupied with Josef, took the lead in the conversation. “He thinks you’ve replaced him with Seth in terms of security. He’s worried about you, poppet.”

I rolled my eyes. “I know that it’s the whole reason why any of this is currently happening. Except now he’s taken your Stockholm Syndrome bullshit too seriously. You got into his head, Marty.”

“Love, I got into his head because he saw that your behavior  _ was _ changing, but—“

“But you’re not a fucking doctor! You’re a  _ lawyer _ , completely different practices!”

“I shouldn’t have handled it the way I did. For that, I do apologize.”

I turned my eyes away from him. There was still a fire in my chest but I couldn’t figure out if it was from anger for the overwhelming desire to scream.

“I don’t think you were entirely in the wrong.” Seth took a sidelong glance at me, a small smirk on his lips. “My behavior did change. I stopped arguing because it didn’t get me anywhere, I was tired. Aleister is still a possessive man — a possessive, overprotective man, and he wanted to keep me under lock and key after what happened. Even though I egged it on, getting shot wasn’t rainbows and unicorn shits.”

There was apparent tension in my shoulders. My posture and way of sitting had gone rigid.

“I was beaten bloody by my father and then I welcomed a different type of violence in my life. I’m not exactly a stable individual, to begin with. I won’t lie to you and say that afterward, I wasn’t a bit scared of crossing Aleister, but that’s because I had just gone through a traumatic experience and was hurt. So you will have to forgive for just wanting things to be smooth sailing for a little while, especially when we had dinner.”

Marty spoke up again, “I’m sorry. That was-… my comments were out of line.”

“Completely,” Seth and I spoke in unison.

I lifted my chin and looked Marty dead on, “I don’t have Stockholm Syndrome. When you have feelings for someone you do stupid shit and say even stupider shit. Ask this one over here,” my thumb point at Seth and he clicked his tongue at the offense. “But I’ll be fucking damned if I let him tell me what to do with my life. If I want to leave the country with a new identity, then I’ll do it, but if I want to stay with a Seth and have him teach me to defend myself, then I’ll do that too.”

There was a short silence as Marty processed all of the words I had shared. His brow was scrunched up tightly as he held a purring Josef in his arms. He looked conflicted and oddly speechless.

Baron was the one to break the silence.

“Princess, Aleister’s emotions are all over the place. He’s a big bad mob boss, yet he’s as wishy-washy as a teenage boy when it comes to feelings.” He reached over and gave Josef a scratch under his chin — his demeanor and way of conversation were blasé as if he was beginning to tire of the situation. “He’s jealous of Seth because he isn’t treating you like glass, he’s taking the fists that you’re afraid of and shaping them into your greatest power.”

Baron’s words were causing my throat to close up. The way he gazed at me, eyes half-shut and calculating with the barest hint of a curl at the ends of his lips. He looked intrigued—  _ proud _ .

“I’m only his friend that occasionally does a bit of his bidding, but I run my own tiny gang, so I don’t really have to listen to him even if I do call him ‘boss’ occasionally. If staying here with Rollins empowers you to be a better version of yourself then I’ll grab this Brit and we’ll see ourselves out.”

“Hey!” Marty jerked his head to Baron, the commotion causing Josef to leap off of him. “What am  _ I _ going to do?”

“Go back to your own house, dumbass.”

A short while later, Marty and Baron took their leave, but not before asking me another question when I walked them out.

“I know he gave you a check.” Marty spun the car keys around his middle finger with a serious stoicism on his face. “Use it – don’t throw it in the bin. Promise me.”

The weighty edge of his tone had me agreeing immediately. “I promise, Marty.”

“Good. Sleep tight, love.”

* * *

“The scar’s a nice pink, now.” Seth ran his thumb over the bullet wound with a bit of a grimace.

I’d gotten used to seeing it glare at me brightly in the mirror whenever I undressed for a shower or changed my clothes. It was a raised reminder of the pain, along with the new normal of constant popping in the rotator cuff.

“I’m fairly used to it now. I kind of have to be, I guess.”

Seth hummed and poured the two of us a cup of coffee. “Are you thinking about last night?”

“I am, but mainly because I wonder if it would be smart to get away for a while. I want you to finish training me though, at least teach me everything you know until you feel like I’ve gotten it down.”

“I’ll call Queenie over. She can help your training go faster.”

I almost accidentally spat out my coffee. “She rocked your shit yesterday and you’re gonna call in a favor.”

Seth merely shrugged, “She may be pissed at me, but she likes seeing you.” He took out his phone and went to work on sending out a message. “I’m supposed to meet up with Roman and Dean, anyway.”

Reaching out, I gingerly pressed the pads of my fingers against the bruising around his eye. “If the guys ask, lie to them and say I was the one that clocked you, ok? Make me look good.”

He snorted, “Shut up, you idiot. Queenie said she’d be here in an hour, get yourself cleaned up. I’m heading out in a half-hour.”

I watched as he disappeared back into his room. His demeanor seemed sort of resigned and I really couldn’t tell if he was worried about our roommate dynamic coming under fire or if it was because Queenie was probably being short towards him.

There was a possibility that Queenie didn’t even know that Seth was utterly in love with her.

* * *

It was glaringly obvious that the moves Seth had taught me were inferior compared to anything and everything Queenie used or countered with. Three hours into it and I was out of breath, absolutely heaving for it every time she had me pinned to the ground in an arm lock, leg lock, or any-other-fucking-lock, and Queenie was  _ laughing _ like she was enjoying every goddamned second of it.

“I’m gonna fucking kill Seth for  _ ever _ suggesting I train with you!” My arm was bent in an awkward position and my face pushed into the mat.

“You’re a killer in your own right, Bright Eyes!” The delight was evident in the lilt of Queenie’s voice even as she torqued my arm tighter in her grip.

Struggling out of it would be futile, so like any sensible individual up against a trained killer, I tapped.

Immediately, Queenie released me and I rolled away having to rotate my shoulder, allowing the feeling to flow back into it.

“May I ask you something?” I asked quite offhandedly — my brain to mouth filter has gone out of commission.

“What’s up, buttercup?”

“How long have you known Seth?”

Queenie rested her hands on her hips and tilted her head back and forth. “Hm, I’d say for about a decade now?”

“A fuckin’ decade?!” I shot up from the mat and turned to face her. “You’ve been friends for a whole ass ten years?!”

She chuckled and nodded, “Difficult ten years!”

“And Bálor?”

“The last seven - knew each other for a year and have dated for six.”

“So, you just didn’t know Seth was in love with you or….?” Like I said, brain to mouth filter is null and void.

Queenie blinked at me, only allowing the barest hint of shock to seep out. She adjusted her posture by shifting her knees and pushing back her shoulders like she was protecting herself.

“I noticed.” There was a small curl of her lips, but I couldn’t tell if it was amusement or pity. I had a bad feeling it was pity.

“You noticed and did nothing nor said anything?”

“It’s not like I didn’t want to—”

“Oh,  _ god _ .”

“Hun, listen, it isn’t that easy to just tell your best friend,  _ ‘hey, I know you’re in love with me, but I’m sorry that I’m in love with someone else.’ _ ”

“It  _ is _ , literally, that fucking easy! No wonder the man only knows how to brood, no one knows how to say shit straight in your business, huh? No open mics about feelings or anything.”

She scrunched her nose up at the mere suggestion of an open mic night for feelings, but I thought it was brilliant and honestly a bit comical imagining people like Roman Reigns sharing his feelings with a spotlight on him.

“I may have called him in bed with Finn to announce we were engaged,” Queenie looked sheepish.

That was one thing I already knew. Seth had told me one night after getting a bit drunk, I thought it was pretty shitty of them to do that but it’s not much of my business. Yet, here I was, making things my business.

“Heard you also cold-clocked him with that diamond of yours.”

“He may have said that my relationship with Finn was bullshit and that he didn’t understand how I could be engaged to a man that only told me he loved me and wanted to be with me after I kept getting hurt.” She shrugged and stood up off of the mat. “He may have been a tiny bit right, but I couldn’t let him just talk about Finn like that.”

“Don’t ask him next time.” I followed her lead and got up off of the mat. “The next time you’re in trouble and your fiancé decides to act like a dumbass, don’t ask Seth to come and help you. Stop making him your second choice, Q.”

Queenie blinked owlishly at me. “You’d rather have me die?”

I snorted, “I rather you have a fiancé that would come running like I heard Seth had.”

“Finn would come running!”

My smile felt sharp on my cheeks. “Then you don’t have anything to worry about.”

“Forget the nickname ‘bright eyes,’ you’re more of a firecracker. Now,” Queenie held up her hands and widened her stance, ready for a grapple, “let’s put that aggravation to work.”

* * *

Aleister gets a letter in the mail three days later with Adam Cole’s gaudy ass wax seal that he likes to think makes him “official.”

“I swear, that idiots letters are just as over the top as he is.” He tears it open, bits of red hardened wax falling on the floor along with a few pictures.

_ Black, _

_ Word around the city is that you let your bird free due to…“personal reasons.” Pawned her off onto Rollins, huh? That syndrome or whatever the hell really makes you do anything to survive, I guess. I wonder if those Shield brothers like to share? _

_ Adam Cole _

Aleister crumpled up the letter in his fist and bent down to look at the pictures. They were of Little Bird; she is hanging off of Roman’s back but he was unable to see her face, another was of Dean asleep in the bed of a truck with his head in her lap, the last was of her holding Seth’s face between her hands — this one looked the most recent.

All of it was much too intimate for his liking. His stomach twisted up inside, rolling quickly enough that he felt sick. Anger draped over him in a red haze, this isn’t what he wanted for her. She was supposed to leave – go somewhere he, Adam Cole, and Pete Dunne could never find her again. It was better that way.

“If she won’t leave,” he muttered. “I’ll make her.”

**Author's Note:**

> Klein vogeltje - Little bird
> 
> Liefje - sweetheart


End file.
